If you’ve been paying attention to the singles that Alison Goldfrapp has dropped this year, then you have an idea of what to expect from the singer’s new album, Flux. It’s a pop-minded album that does, at least at times, recall her work with Goldfrapp, the duo that bears her name. Still, “Reverberotic” and “Find Xanadu” aren’t the only jams on this album and, if you’re a fan of those two songs in particular, definitely get Flux in your queue asap.
Flux is Goldfrapp’s second solo album. Two years ago, she released The Love Invention, a dreamy disco collection that was one of my favorite albums of 2023. With Flux, the sound is a little more rooted in the singer’s legacy while maintaining a contemporary sound.
Supernature is no doubt the album from Goldfrapp (the band) that will be name-dropped the most in comparison to Flux, mainly because it was the duo’s big hit, but I’m more inclined to think of Black Cherry when I listen to these new songs. Black Cherry is an incredible album— if you’ve never heard it before, you have to change it immediately— and it spawned multiple club hits around the time it was released. What was really interesting about the 2003 album, though, was that it was a little more polished than a lot of the electroclash songs that were burning up the dance floor, yet it also had this really sleazy glam-disco thing going on underneath it. In the early ‘00s, the Moroder influence was big in dance music, but on Black Cherry, Goldfrapp did it with a Bowie strut on songs like “Train” and “Strict Machine,” both of which stuck around the L.A. clubs for a good while. Then, the duo would vibe shift into ethereal synth pop, like the album’s title track. It was a very tricky balancing act, but Goldfrapp nailed it and it was cool af.
There’s a bit of that stylistic push-and-pull on Flux. “Reverberotic” recaptures the electro-sleazy groove of “Train” and “Strict Machine,” while Goldfrapp leans into the ethereal quality of her vocals on “UltraSky.” Wedged between those two songs on the album is “Strange Things Happen,” which shares qualities from both.
At the same time, there’s a stronger pop element here than with 2003 Goldfrapp, or even Supernature. If I hear anything from Flux while laboring over serum decisions on my next trip to Sephora, I will not be surprised. Most of the album would 100% work somewhere in the Kylie Minogue-Romy-Peggy Gou block of afternoon shopping bangers. A few of the songs on Flux come across as a little too conventional, like “Play It (Shine Like a Nova Star),” but others, like “Find Xanadu” and “Hey Hi Hello,” are exactly the kind of songs I want to bop along to when I’m maneuvering my way through an army of teenagers to get to the moisturizer that I need more than they do.
On its final three songs, Flux takes an interesting turn. “Cinnamon Light” glides like an old school roller skate jam without sounding retro at all. This is the album’s lowkey heater, the kind of song you want to drop in a DJ set right when the dance floor is warming up. “Ordinary Day” has the ‘90s feel of a pop song that’s informed by rave, which is a good lead-in for Flux’s closer, “Magma,” where ambiance builds into an epic, hands-in-the-air moment. This seems to draw from Goldfrapp’s earlier career, when she collaborated with various electronic artists, including Orbital, and its a beautiful, dramatic way to finish the album.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.
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