The upcoming record promises to be an evolutionary chapter in the multi-faceted artist’s forward-thinking yet timeless discography. This album announcement is accompanied by the hypnotic lead-single, “So Hard So Hot”.
‘The Love Invention’ album, which was executively produced and co-written by Alison, marks her reawakening as a dancefloor priestess, in an intoxicating showcase of the disco and house influences that have always been at the heart of her musical DNA. Adorned with glossy synths and a blissfully contorting bassline, “So Hard So Hot” is the rhythm-inducing stepping stone into this kaleidoscopic new world, bottling the ephemeral joy of a dancefloor with its anthemic house beat. Listening to Alison conjures the rapture of nocturnal epiphanies as she sings, “Do you know how the stars were made / Yeah you know how to radiate.”
“I wanted to do something that had that very clubby, acid-y feeling to it. But I wanted lightness to come out of the chorus – there’s tension there, as well as euphoric freedom.” Alison Goldfrapp
“So Hard So Hot” is paired with a vibrant and psychedelic video vignette directed in collaboration with Mat Maitland (Big Active), the first in a series of visual accompaniments. Treated with a range of AI techniques to create extreme fluctuations on a spectrum that glides towards radical fantasy, the result is a mythical world that is both powerful and fragile. Alison features as a solo figure dissolving in and out of geological gridded realms, her face oscillating between an enhanced reality and contorted fictions. It reflects the instability and hope of transitional states and recurrently seeks and finds love as a solace.
Alison’s dedicated approach to pop innovation has firmly situated her as the rare leftfield artist who has been embraced by the pop mainstream without diluting one iota of her individuality. Goldfrapp scaled the charts, with multi-platinum album sales, unforgettable Glastonbury performances, multiple Brit and Grammy nominations and an Ivor Novello for “Strict Machine”. The momentum towards her journey into solo music was solidified back in 2021, when she was approached by Röyksopp to collaborate on two tracks for their seventh album Profound Mysteries, culminating in the brightly shimmering track “Impossible”.
Alison will be showcasing ‘The Love Invention’ live at a sold out debut headline show at HERE at Outernet on the 18th of May, alongside performances at Glastonbury and Manchester International Festival, with more live announcements to follow.
