Flux

On her debut solo album, Love Invention, Alison Goldfrapp devoted herself to dance music. On Flux, she reminds listeners shes also pop royalty. Her second full-length is among the catchiest of her quarter-century career, and thats saying something. Moments like "Hey Hi Hello" and "Sound & Light" are everything that pop songs with the Goldfrapp name attached to them should be: The airy synths and high notes she hits on the chorus of the former call to mind Head First (not a surprise, since she also worked with Flux and Love Invention co-producer Richard X on that album), while the latter is a neo-80s paradise steeped in the desire to be overcome by love and music (not necessarily in that order). Even Fluxs most dance-oriented songs are sharper and shorter than Love Inventions excursions, with the dangerous curves of "Reveberotic"s warping synths and "Strange Things Happen"s transformation of the dancefloor into a swirling galaxy providing two of the albums highlights. That a lot of the tracks here sound familiar doesnt make Flux any less appealing; instead, its a sleek, stylish comfort zone for both Alison Goldfrapp and her fans. Nevertheless, she keeps the distinction between her solo work and her music as Goldfrapp with Will Gregory clear. Sometimes, she digs deeper into her influences. Its no coincidence that "Find Xanadu" continues the ongoing Olivia Newton-John connection in her music, as well as homages to Moroder and Cerrone in its vintage cool. Elsewhere, she throws charming curveballs, like the bubbling freestyle undercurrent in "Cinnamon Light"s beat. She also sets the album apart from Love Inventions nonstop momentum by taking the time to look inward on the Seventh Tree-esque reflections of "Ordinary Day" and on the lush "Magma," an ecstatic sendoff to Fluxs danceable daydreams. The album may not offer the radical reinventions of Goldfrapps duo work, but it doesnt need to -- Alison Goldfrapp pioneered these sounds, and on Flux, shes still doing them with effortless elegance. ~ Heather Phares

ゴールドフラップのヴォーカリストによるセカンド・ソロ・アルバム。艶やかな歌声と共に鳴らされる端正なシンセ・サウンドは、レトロ・フューチャーな空気を醸す。リヴァーブをたっぷりかけた音像がチルウェイヴを彷彿させる"Strange Things Happen"など、2010年代に隆盛したジャンルの残滓が随所でちらつくダンサブルなエレポップ集だ。
bounce (C)近藤真弥