 Very different to Felt Mountain - that's the first thing that hits you. The Goldfrapp that was the darling of leftfield chillout aficionados has been infused with a new found sexiness, a debt to the media-led electroclash scene and whole bunch of swoopy bloopy synth noises that were no doubt liberated from Jean Michel Jarre one night in a darkened alley - opener Crystalline Green being a notable culprit.
Y'know it's all kinda cool, and a lot of fun; luckily Black Cherry doesn't take itself too seriously. Even behind the squelchy 303isms of Train, you can almost hear the smirk on Alison Goldfrapp's face.
Tiptoe is all angular electroclash and torch vocals before the layered strings kick in to take it to a place only James Bond themes inhabit. Hairy Trees will one day be slotted into the second half of disc two of a big-selling chillout compilation - where they put bands like Aqualung, who only really half fit the concept.
Twist is the natural follow-up to Train - this needs a single release - while Strict Machine is salacious S&M perv-pop as pioneered by Depeche Mode on Master And Servant. "I'm in love with a strict machine" purrs Alison. I think I believe her. I'm not too convinced that this disc has the staying power - it was a lot more fun listening to it last week than it has been this week - but if your music's all sounding a bit flat, and you need something to re-energise your CD collection, Black Cherry may well be what you're looking for. :: Rowan Shaeffer | 
