Review Summary: Silver Eye is an engrossing, synthesizer-heavy concoction of the duo’s previous work distilled into a pure element only they could create.
Goldfrapp are one of those special groups that truly reinvent themselves with each album cycle. From making occultish ambient music and lush neofolk to pop hits heard in nightclubs and mainstream radio, they’re one of the most versatile bands of the 21st century. It’s fitting that the main theme of their slickly produced new album,
Silver Eye, is of transformation. Nearly twenty years of songwriting experience since the band’s formation has resulted in a highly focused, acutely well-made result. The opening two songs, “Anymore” and “Systemagic” begin the record in an accessible, inviting way that recalls
Black Cherry and
Supernature. While those records feel like their time of the early 2000s,
Silver Eye is an ominous, surreal vision of the future. Despite being one of their more mainstream records, much of it is in line with the ethereal, layered songwriting of
Felt Mountain and
Seventh Tree while traversing wholly different musical styles. No matter what your favorite era of Goldfrapp is, there’s something for everyone to appreciate. Slow-building, cinematic deep cuts like “Tigerman,” “Faux Suede Drifter,” and “Zodiac Black” in particular are highlights while the singles (“Anymore,” “Systemagic,” “Everything is Never Enough,” and “Ocean”) are examples of the band’s unique brand of pop music that sounds like no one else. Everything sounds coated in a chrome sheen of black, silver, and orange that unfolds dramatically, with some of the most consistent songwriting of the group’s career.
Silver Eye is another innovative offering from Goldfrapp that is able to sound both organic and coldly mechanical at the same time; it acknowledges their adventurous past while being another rewarding stage of their evolution altogether.
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