Back to the Future

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
The mediocre album Goldfrapp should've released after Felt Mountain instead of Black Cherry. This album had mega promise: Weird 70's folk album art, an apparent return to the mellow score-like electronics of the earlier material and a movement away from the disco-isms of the last two albums. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I had in my head this incredible fusion of film-noiresque strings couched in lush psychedelia - or even a Der Blutharsch/Death in June folkiness - with Goldfrapp's incredible operatic vocals hovering above it all. Instead we get the duller musical interludes of Felt Mountain combined with Fairport Convention b-sides. Perhaos ironically, it ends up sounding more like a cash-in to current indie-rock trends then the left-field shift to electro/disco did.
On the other hand, Seventh Tree really isn't a bad album at all. I think it probably does what it sets out to do quite well. Unfortunately for this review, I'm having a hard time getting past my own (admittedly high) expectations. Why did trip-hop have to die? And why did Goldfrapp, perhaps the genre's last great exponent, have to be the headstone?
In the final analysis, it's good, not great. My enjoyment of it seems to shift with my mood. Maybe a 7 or 7.5 if I had to put a rating on it.