7/10

Ever since her formative group Goldfrapp released their breakthrough debut LP 'Felt Mountain' in 2000, Alison Goldfrapp has cemented herself as one of the most innovative and genre-defining artists of her generation. With a run of seven highly-praised full-lengths over the next two decades, racking up Mercury and Grammy nominations along the way, she is now looking to step away from those initial familiarities with the release of her debut solo album 'The Love Invention', a record that sees her enter a new era of her sound.

Not too dissimilar to what Róisín Murphy managed when she broke free of Moloko in the early 2000s, 'The Love Invention' still holds many of those classic Goldfrapp tropes but with this far more adventurous and club-friendly aesthetic throughout. Swapping out some of the broodier and more ethereal moments of her catalogue to date and venturing down a more euphoric route, her first solo effort is this bright and glittering offering that sees her revive plenty of those explorative ideals she first emerged with more than twenty years ago.

While her solo material and Goldfrapp have a lot of crossover between them, Alison Goldfrapp herself has this wonderfully progressive air to her work that feels more like the start of something new entirely. It is definitely looking to become some of her most impactful releases to date, but still needs that magic spark to really shine throughout.