- See all the Ratings
- Add my Rating now
(Virgin/Mute)
The single Train is taken from Goldfrapp’s latest album, Black Cherry. Having never heard their other releases I can’t really compare Train to the rest of the Album. In saying that, the track in it’s own right is very different from most of the commercial releases heard from electronic acts these days. Initially Train sounds like a new breed electro release with a very strong lead synthesizer and a bold minimal beat. The tempo is fairly slow and the track has a nice building feel relying on the strong lead synth. Alison Goldfrapp is the vocalist on this release and her soulful, seductive voice makes the sound on this track very appealing. With minimal octave changes and some great filtering on the lead sound the music moves well and the feel throughout is constant. Although this release isn’t quite a dance floor stormer it has the potential to be. The remixes of this release are by Ewan Pearson, T. Raumschmiere and Goldfrapp themselves.
The Goldfrapp remix is more down tempo than the original and doesn’t have the same massive synth lead to begin with although this slowly filters through the other sounds to again rise to the forefront of the mix. This mix is more broken and has more of a live band sound.
The Ewan Pearson mix focuses a little more on the vocals with a minimal bass line and more up-tempo beat. The sounds are not as prominent but very electronic, the bass line carries the track better on this mix and feeds its slow building style.
The final mix and fourth track of the single is from T. Raumschmiere. Clearly the more dance floor orientated, this mix is just a strong as the original with the big lead sound and minimal 4/4 beat. The production tends to lend itself to the harder side of this sound and the actual structure of the track is more broken and unexpected than the other mixes. This was my favourite mix on the release due to its electro up-tempo feel.
Overall the single is good, I like the mixes better than the original, as they are a little more diverse. The production on all mixes and the original is great with a nice blend of electronica and band influenced sounds. The lead sound can sometimes sound like a lead guitar, which I thought, was a nice crossover effect. The production is clear and smooth and the mixes are all of excellent quality. I would recommend this single to anyone into downbeat vocal electronica with a taste for electro.
