Head first

Head first
Goldfrapp's studio album
Publication (s)	March 19, 2010 (Germany) March 22, 2010 (UK) March 23, 2010 (USA)
admission	July - December 2009
Label (s)	Mute Records
Format (s)	CD, download, LP
Genre (s)	Synthpop , electropop
Title (number)	9
running time	38:10
occupation	See below
production	Alison Goldfrapp Will Gregory Richard X Pascal Gabriel
chronology Seventh Tree (2008) Head first The Singles (2012)

Head First ( English for "head first") is the fifth studio album by the British duo Goldfrapp . It was released in Germany on March 19, 2010.

Background information

In September 2009 Goldfrapp announced that they were working on a new album. Like the previous albums, Head First was recorded in a residential building and not in a recording studio as usual. Alison Goldfrapp justified this with the freedom of time and the lower costs. Before that, however, they had composed the score for the John Lennon film Nowhere Boy . The duo had received an offer from the record company to release a greatest hits album, but decided on a fifth studio album. Goldfrapp originally wanted to pursue the quieter, more aesthetic sound of its predecessor Seventh Tree with their new album , but singer Alison Goldfrapp said it "didn't feel right" and thus the music style of the album is based on the synthpop of the 70s and 80s.

Texts

Alison Goldfrapp at a concert in Oxford in June 2010.

The songs on Head First were written by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory without exception. The first single Rocket ( German: "rocket" ) is, according to Goldfrapp, about a person whom you want to put on a rocket in order to shoot him into space and finally get rid of him. Believer is about a person who begins to believe in and trust another. Alive ( German: "Lebendig" ), the second single on the album, is about regained joie de vivre and vitality.

Head First , the title track of the album, is about falling head over heels into a fresh love, according to Alison Goldfrapp. She got the inspiration for this from a close friend who had just fallen in love and yet knew that he would never see his loved one again.

The last track on the album Voicething ( German: "Voicething" ) is the most outstanding song on the album. Lyrics were completely omitted here. Rather, the singer's sounds and noises were changed by vocoders , loops and other vocal effects and placed on a song basis made up of synthesizers as a rhythm and melody instrument.

Track list

#	title	Duration
1.	"Rocket"	3:51
2.	"Believer"	3:43
3.	"Alive"	3:28
4th	"Dreaming"	5:07
5.	"Head First"	4:30
6th	"Hunt"	4:34
7th	"Shiny & Warm"	3:58
8th.	"I Wanna Life"	4:12
9.	"Voicething"	4:44

criticism

The review of Head First was positive.

“Clear and structured melodies find their catchy tune, the production is gentle and definitive. No worlds to explore, no distance to escape. Goldfrapp try the crowbar. And lead the competition by the nose ... So this summer album develops into a remarkable sound fabric, the lightness of which is only superficial. Goldfrapp know exactly what they are doing. "

- Christian Preußer, Plattentest.de

“With every album Goldfrapp shed their skin and present a new facet of their work to the public ... Between coolness and bad taste, between Olivia Newton-John and Amanda Lear on the one hand and Alison Goldfrapp on the other, Head First masters the dance on the razor blade. Successful moulting again. "

- Alexander Cordas, Laut.de

Chart successes

Charts	position
Germany	28
Austria	33
Switzerland	14th
United States	45
Great Britain	6th

Singles

year	title	Chart placements
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2010	Rocket Head First	32	38	50	47	-
	Alive head first	-	-	-	-	-
	Believer head first	-	-	-	-	-

Rocket

The album's lead single, the Synthpopsong Rocket , ( German: "Rocket" ) was released on March 8, 2010. It was written and produced by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory, with Pascal Gabriel as an additional producer. To promote their new single, Goldfrapp appeared on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross and on German television on TV Total.

In the music video for Rocket , Alison Goldfrapp can be seen driving through a desert. She drives a big truck that has a pink rocket loaded on it. A man is sitting in the passenger seat who is completely wrapped in duct tape. The video ends with the rocket - with the man on board - being shot into space.

occupation

music Alison Goldfrapp - vocals Chris Goulston - guitar ( Alive ) Charlie Jones - bass guitar ( Rocket , Alive , Dreaming , I Wanna Life ) Alex Lee - guitar ( Rocket , Alive , Head First ) Ged Lynch - drums ( Rocket , Alive , I Wanna Life ) Davide Rossi - violin ( Rocket , Dreaming )

production Alison Goldfrapp - producer, audio engineering , art director Will Gregory - producer, engineering Nick Batt - programming ( Rocket , Alive , I Wanna Life ) Neil Comber - Mixing ( Hunt ) Bruno Ellingham - Additional Engineering Greg Freeman - drum recordings ( Rocket , Alive , I Wanna Life ) Pascal Gabriel - Additional production (songs 1, 2, 4, 5, 8) Tim Goldsworthy - Additional programming (songs 1, 3, 6), drum recordings, drum arrangement ( Shiny & Warm ) Matty Green - Mixing (songs 1–5, 7–9) Ted Jensen - Mastering Serge Leblon - Photos Mat Maitland - Photos, Art Direction Mark Stent - Mixing Richard X - Additional Production ( Alive )

Web links

• Official website
• Album cover
• Review on Laut.de
• Review on Plattentests.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ In bed with Goldfrapp: Interview with singer Alison ( Memento from March 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a181060/goldfrapp-record-lennon-movie-score.html
4. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a207626/goldfrapp-turned-down-greatest-hits.html
5. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.de/news/article.php?article_file=1268832000.txt  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Hello Nowhere Boy X, Goldfrapp Blog, September 18, 2009 ( Memento from October 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ http://www.plattentests.de/rezi.php?show=7400
9. ↑ http://www.laut.de/Goldfrapp/Head-First-%28Album%29
10. ↑ http://acharts.co/album/54165
11. ↑ Chart sources: UK DE ( Memento of the original dated November 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. AT CH 
12. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rqkjs