STREAMING AUDIO INTERVIEW – CLICK ‘LOADING’ ON THE LEFT OF SCREEN TO PLAY

It’s been five long years since Goldfrapp were last in Australia, but as their enigmatic front-lady Alison tells FL, no one should take their absence personally. Truth be told there’s a number of reasons why it’s taken them so long to return, including her fear of flying. “It’s very expensive for us to tour. It’s bonkers,” says Alison wearily. “Contrary to popular belief we get very little money to tour, we’ve always been more focused on the writing than touring endlessly. We are really looking forward to coming over though.”

Goldfrapp’s fourth studio album, Seventh Tree, is full of dreamy lyrics and lush melodies. It’s also a noticeably quieter release. “It just felt right, we wanted to put more space back into the music. It was a bit bloody scary though,” she says, revealing that they worried that their record company might have concerns they were doing something so vastly different from their thumping electro releases. “The easy route would have been to do another album like Supernature – it was a commercial success, but we didn’t want to do that.”

While Goldfrapp are looking forward to being part of this year’s Parklife line up, they’re also particularly excited about their sideshow at the Sydney’s iconic Opera House, a venue that doesn’t often get used for contemporary music. “I couldn’t believe it when they said we were playing in there, I thought that there must be a back room there or something that they’ve booked us in. It’s very exciting. I’m sure my mum will be impressed, I haven’t told her yet. It’s always good to impress your Mum.”

Tune in for the full audio interview with Alison, and don’t forget to check out Goldfrapp as they tour Australia headlining Parklife 2008.

Fri Sep 26th – Melbourne, Palais Theatre
Sun Sep 28th – Melbourne, Parklife
Mon Sep 29th – Perth, Parklife
Thu Oct 2nd – Sydney, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
Sat Oct 4th – Brisbane, Parklife
Sun Oct 5th – Sydney, Parklife