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100

Observer Music Monthly

Goldfrapp and Gregory have made an album as hummably lovely as it is knowingly referencing of a certain tradition of neo-psychedelic English whimsy.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

The disc is buoyed by an underlying pop sensibility, epitomized by the bubbly 'A&E' and 'Caravan Girl.'

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Dot Music

What Seventh Tree actually does - successfully - is tap into a very English spirit of eccentricity, taking the mellow floatiness of Goldfrapp's earliest work and imbuing it with a dash of Hammer horror and the aroma of country meadows.

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Prefix Magazine

Seventh Tree ultimately may have club-happy "Supernature" devotees shaking their heads, but for those of us who cherish all things weird and wonderful in the land of Goldfrapp, it is a welcome (and much-needed) return to form.

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Entertainment Weekly

It's a very sleepy listen--though often a vey lovely one. [29 Feb 2008, p.61]

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musicOMH.com

After a couple of listens it reveals itself as Goldfrapp's most subtle, affecting and rewarding album to date.

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Billboard

Seventh Tree is as deliciously subversive, and in some cases more so, as the duo's past work.

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Sputnikmusic

From the first minute till the last, this is enthralling, invigorating stuff, and because of that it's comfortably the duo's best album yet.

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Uncut

It’s a brave, bonkers, often beautiful, sometimes haunting and occasionally ridiculous album.

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Magnet

Seventh Tree is a moody, understated gem. A finer hangover record will be hard to come by in 2008.

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All Music Guide

It's clear that Goldfrapp doesn't miss the style the pair perfected on their last two albums, nor should they--this is some of their most varied, balanced, and satisfying work.

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Boston Globe

What keeps Seventh Tree from lapsing into music for looming by is Goldfrapp and Gregory's inventive instrumentation, which harvests the warmth of electronic pop and marries it organically to acoustic instruments.

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The Guardian

Seventh Tree represents a dramatic rethink: out go the stomping glitter beats and whip-crack synthesisers, in comes "psychedelic folk."

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PopMatters

It might be a quieter and more introspective disc than we’d been expecting, but this is still a quintessential Goldfrapp album with Gregory’s arrangements brilliantly underscoring the inimitable vocal versatility of his female foil.

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Slant Magazine

Seventh Tree is most compelling for the way in which the band's regained austerity and naturalism contrasts with their more recent hedonism.

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Urb

Each track on Seventh Tree is a picture that stands alone, but in its entirety the record works as a landscape decorated with guitars and pianos spread over hills of upbeat drums as strings and woodwinds line the sky in the background.

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Mojo

A lush and trippy affair with shades of Edward Lear-like surrealism and John Winston Lennon amid strawberry Fields. [Mar 2008, p.103]

Q Magazine

The results are psychedelic, frequently surreal and occasionally brilliant. [Mar 2008, p.99]

NOW Magazine

A must for anyone still heavily rotating Moon Safari.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

It is a welcome return home to a band that had been on quite the bender.

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Los Angeles Times

Fans of Beth Orton and the French group Air will find much to swoon to throughout Seventh Tree.

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Under The Radar

Goldfrapp minus electroclash equals Seventh Tree. [Winter 2008, p.82]

Village Voice

This whole thing sounds great, though: rue, clenched fists, and closed eyes mixed at an arena pitch.

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No Ripcord

Ultimately, Allison is a pleasure to listen to even in the space where she floats right through your head.

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Hartford Courant

Seventh Tree is the inevitable comedown, a pastoral holiday that trades glittery hedonism for quiet contemplation.

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Blender

Will Gregory’s sparkling webs of acoustic guitar, synth and strings allow the more slender melodies to slide into vaporous prettiness, but Goldfrapp’s voice remains extraordinary, as witchily sensual as Kate Bush’s, as otherworldly as a theremin.

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Rolling Stone

Some more uptempos would have been nice, but Seventh Tree still makes for good post-party chill- out music.

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New Musical Express

Seventh Tree is bound to ruffle a few electro-feathered fans, but there’s no denying it’s a venture that sets the pair into new experimental territory.

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cokemachineglow

Goldfrapp have shed the sex-Moroder-robot-Bolan-fuck-disco like a used condom and re-tooled themselves as a whimsical psychedelia and pastoral folk outfit for the disappointing Seventh Tree.

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Spin

The duo are too consistently subdued, and without their usual spectacle, Seventh Tree veers perilously close to dull. [Mar 2008, p.102]

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Pitchfork

But with all the excitement and decadence drained out of the music and the voice, the trite themes stand out a bit more clearly.

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Drowned In Sound

Seventh Tree, though in some respects an organic redrafting of the autoerotic Goldfrapp template, picks up where Supernature left off in its setting of the controls for the heart of the mainstream, and misses badly the slickly subversive tone that lifted the band from the realms of coffee table mediocrity.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 48 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bobby K gave it a2:
I agree with Kyle G -- this album is boring. Allison's voice ends up sounding like a pillow for most of it. Even the slower Felt Mountain featured some vocal acrobatics. Here, she just plods along.

KG FReeze gave it a9:
Best record I've heard this year thus far. Better than Malkmus and that's saying something. Now remember, listening to this means - gasp - sitting down with a good set of speakers, pulling out the booklet and LISTENING to it. Don't have close to that much patience? Don't bother. If you love the craft, you'll love it. And I'm not talking about the movie.

Ray E. gave it a9:
I heard a lot of bad things about this album, but I went out and bought it anyways and I'm glad that i did. Goldfrapp effectively inserts her remote, mysterious, emotionally empty glam-trip-hop persona into a genre where its presence seems antithetical: laid back singersongwriting. Very nice. Buy it and listen to it while you chill or do work. Don't listen to the haters.

Ed D. gave it a10:
This is Goldfrapp for adults... You see I understand the evolution of Goldfrap this way: Felt Mountain - a pretentious 20something full of big books and big Ideas the he/she doesn't understand but feels compelled to speak about them with airs of superiority because he/she is in love with the contents of their own mind. (my reaction: Oooh, you're so cute! Now shuddup and lets f*ck!) Black Cherry – reaching the late 20s he/she suddenly realizes that sexuality and intellect intersect at co-ordinates far away from “knowledge”. In fact, realizing that intellect and sex are about sexual power-plays (where, when done correctly, there are no losers) he/she proceeds to explore the dark and naughty side. (my reaction: Oooh, you’re so dirty! Now shuddup and lets f*ck!) Supernature – a decade after entering the sexual awakening he/she has developed “skillz” in the ‘ol sac and is now full of confidence. Realizing the power he/she now possesses - the sex is fully on display; challenging all comers! (my reaction: Oooh, you’re so hot! Now shuddup and lets f*ck!) 7th Tree – years at the top of the game have had a profound effect. Recognizing the complexities of the human condition and the beauty of life he/she no longer wants to put the sexuality on display. A humility, which can only come from a deep understanding, is now the dominant trait. (my reaction: I’m so in love with you! I always will be...the reply back: Shuddup and lets f*ck!)

Joao C. gave it an8:
Great album from the british duo that moves away from the direction that "Black Cherry" and "Supernature" indicated, without losing their identity. The album is a great addition to their career thus far and showcases beautiful songs that Alison Goldfrapp embodies perfectly.

Kyle G gave it a2:
I dunno.....I really liked the last few efforts from Goldfrapp. Played them to death actually. With this new one though, they seem to have committed the greatest sin you can in music. This record is boring. I have listened to it about 10 times after reading that you have to "give it a few listens to truly get it" but I don't get it. To me it's snooze inducing and I generally enjoy softer deliberate music. Let's go back to the fun, exotic and interesting Goldfrapp sound that you cruelly bated us with before effectively putting us to sleep.

Mark K gave it a9:
Goldfrapp's fourth album Seventh Tree arrives with high expectations after the relatively disappointing by-the-numbers dance focused Supernature. It's not that Supernature was a bad album, the problem is that it was the follow up to the electro masterpiece Black Cherry and paled in comparison. What makes Goldfrapp an interesting musical act is their ability to make a odd, deconstructed melody into likable, but still odd, pop. Many predicted that the fourth album out of Goldfrapp would delve more into the mainstream after they had successful hits with Ooh La La and Fly Me Away (used in numerous commercial and campaigns). However, Seventh Tree is a complete retreat away from the electronic underground dance that spiraled Goldfrapp into semi-popularity. Cold synth landscapes have been replaced with warm strings and acoustic guitars. Alison's lyrics toy with the topics of self-harm, cults, and love (lost, of course) and are generally more memorable than most of her previous songwriting excursions. Although Seventh Tree may be viewed as the success to Goldfrapp's mellow, spacy first album Felt Mountain, Seventh Tree is only similar in tempo. Rather than being Portishead in-the-key-of James Bond theme songs, Seventh Tree plays with 60's & 70's rock-pop (Caravan Girl, Happiness), electro-folk (Little Bird, A&E), and string balladry (Road To Somewhere, Some People). Easily Goldfrapp's second best album behind Black Cherry, Seventh Tree is a moody, fussy, and beautiful ride.

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