Goldfrapp - Head First

Heavily 80s-tinged electro-pop with an eye for big choruses - Head First represents a direction that, now they've gone in it, isn't hugely surprising given Goldfrapp's previous output, as full of interesting shifts and wends as that back catalogue has been. Unfortunately, it's the first real interruption to their brilliant run - Felt Mountain, Black Cherry, Supernature, Seventh Tree (with a bit of an asterisk for that last, which isn't as unimpeachable as the other three, but is still really damn good) - for Head First feels oddly lacklustre, as if some essential spark is missing...it's pleasant enough, but nothing special.