Goldfrapp

Formation

Alison Goldfrapp was born in Enfield, north London, the youngest of six children, and grew up in Alton, Hampshire. She studied fine art at Middlesex University, where she started creating live performance pieces, and she sang as a guest with Orbital and Tricky. As a teenager she had listened to Kate Bush, Prince, T. Rex, Donna Summer and Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and in the early 1990s she discovered Serge Gainsbourg, Polish disco from the 1970s and Weimar cabaret. Gregory came from a classical background and names Ennio Morricone as his main influence. In 1999 she was introduced to the composer Will Gregory after he listened to an early version of a song called Human. The two wrote Lovely Head together, and after several months of phone calls they decided to form a band. In August 1999 they signed to Mute Records.

They began their first album in September 1999 in a rented bungalow in the Wiltshire countryside and worked on it for six months. Alison was often alone there, disturbed by mice and insects, and Gregory said the sessions were intense because he was not used to composing with another person.

The two write jointly, sometimes with Nick Batt, and they have called the arrangement a democracy. Alison uses her voice to create melodies and drumbeats, while Gregory composes on vintage keyboards. Their artwork was designed in collaboration with Big Active.

Felt Mountain

Felt Mountain came out on 11 September 2000 and mixed 1960s pop, cabaret, folk and electronica with Alison's abstract, obsessive lyrics. It entered the UK chart at number 144, climbed to 57 a year later, went gold, and was shortlisted for the 2001 Mercury Prize. The singles included Lovely Head and Utopia. Pitchfork called it elegant and graceful but said the songs were not all that different from one another.

Playing it live was hard, because the arrangements called for up to forty musicians. The duo settled on a small band with violinist Davide Rossi, drummer Rowan Oliver and keyboardist Andy Davies, and toured Britain, Europe and North America, supporting Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Doves.

Dance years

After touring slow songs, Alison found them claustrophobic, and the duo went the other way. Black Cherry (2003) was written in a studio in Bath and brought glam rock and synth-pop into their sound. Its second single, Strict Machine, reached number one on the US dance club chart and won an Ivor Novello award in 2004. Her look changed from a Marlene Dietrich-inspired one to that of a new wave diva. Their live shows around this time, including the Wonderful Electric tour of 2004, featured a white dress with a horse tail and dancers in deer heads.

Supernature (2005) went further. It debuted at number two in Britain, went platinum, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album. The lead single Ooh La La, their first with an electric guitar, reached number four in the UK, and Number 1 topped the US dance chart.

Seventh Tree and after

Seventh Tree (2008) turned away from the dance floor. It took acoustic guitars, strings and a pagan, children's-book imagery, and it debuted at number two in the UK. Its lead single A&E reached number 10. Alison appeared on the artwork dressed as a clown, an image she drew from Pierrot and English folk.

Head First (2010) explored 1980s-influenced synth-pop, peaked at number six in the UK and earned a second Grammy nomination. Tales of Us (2013) was folktronica-influenced, with songs named after people. The compilation The Singles appeared in 2012, and Silver Eye (2017) debuted at number six in the UK. In 2021 the duo received the Ivor Novello inspiration award. A tour marking twenty years of Felt Mountain was announced in 2019 and, after a postponement, ran from 31 March to 15 April 2022. Their last concert was at the Lytham Festival on 1 July 2022, and they have been on indefinite hiatus since. Alison released her solo debut The Love Invention in 2023, while saying never say never about a reunion.