Tales of Us

Tales of Us
Studio album by Goldfrapp
Released 6 September 2013 (2013-09-06)
Recorded April 2011 – May 2013; Angel Studios (London)
Genre Folktronica[1]
Length 44:42
Label Mute
Producer
Goldfrapp chronology
The Singles
(2012)The Singles2012		 Tales of Us
(2013)		 Silver Eye
(2017)Silver Eye2017
Singles from Tales of Us
  1. "Thea"
    Released: 24 March 2014

Tales of Us is the sixth studio album by English electronic music duo Goldfrapp, released on 6 September 2013 by Mute Records. In June 2013, the duo embarked on the Tales of Us Tour to promote the album.

Background and release

Goldfrapp began recording their sixth studio album in April 2011,[2] recording in the English countryside, then mixing in London.[3][4] A re-launch of the band's official website was synchronised with the announcement, which featured a video trailer directed by Lisa Gunning.[5][6] The duo debuted songs from Tales of Us at the Manchester International Festival on 17 and 18 July 2013.[3]

The track "Drew" premiered on 15 July 2013 on Lauren Laverne's BBC Radio 6 Music morning show.[7][8] On the same day, the full Lisa Gunning-directed "Drew" music video was uploaded to the duo's website and to YouTube.[9] "Thea" was released on 24 March 2014 as the first official single from the album.[10]

On 20 January 2014, Goldfrapp announced a one-off screening of their thirty-minute film anthology Tales of Us, which was shown by Arts Alliance Media in select theatres across the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand on the evening of 4 March. Co-created by Alison Goldfrapp and Gunning, the film follows five characters—Stranger, Laurel, Jo, Drew and Annabel—and spans themes of love, loss, madness and identity. The film was followed immediately by an exclusive live performance by Goldfrapp transmitted into cinemas from AIR Studios in London.[11][12][13]

The song "Annabel" was inspired by Kathleen Winter's 2010 novel of the same name, about an intersex child being raised as a boy.[14] Gunning, who directed the video for the song, optioned feature-film rights to the novel in 2014.[14] "Clay" is based on a letter written by World War II veteran Brian Keith to his lover, another soldier known as "Dave".[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[16]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
Clash7/10[18]
The Guardian[19]
The Independent[20]
Mojo[21]
musicOMH[22]
NME5/10[23]
Pitchfork Media6.1/10[24]
PopMatters7/10[25]
Slant Magazine[26]

Tales of Us received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 26 reviews.[16] AllMusic wrote that although "Tales of Us isn't as immediate as, say, Supernature", it is "Goldfrapp's most sophisticated work to date, and one of their most consistently satisfying albums."[17] Jordan Mainzer of musicOMH viewed the album's aesthetic as "striking" and "noticeably starker than anything [Goldfrapp have] made before", concluding, "This is real music, about real people, dealing in real emotion. That it sounds so gorgeously lush too is mere icing on a very rich cake."[22] Andy Gill of The Independent stated, "The delicate guitar and piano figures and the sombre languor of strings behind Alison Goldfrapp's breathy vocals create something akin to a cross between the dreamlike mythopoeism of old folk tales and the lush cinematic arrangements of Michel Legrand."[20]

Mojo critic David Hutcheon opined that compared to Felt Mountain and Seventh Tree, "the mood [on Tales of Us] is all of a piece, the songs are stronger, and nobody suggests lightening the atmosphere with a high-energy single to reassure listeners that Alison hasn't taken leave of her senses."[21] Slant Magazine's Blue Sullivan praised the vocals as "simultaneously gorgeous and terrifying" and dubbed the album "a vital change of pace for Alison Goldfrapp, who's made a brilliant career of being the siren of lost souls."[26] Ryan Lathan of PopMatters noted that "Alison has rarely sounded this captivating and the album contains some of the loveliest vocal performances she's recorded thus far." Lathan continued, "Goldfrapp have seemingly rekindled their creative fires and the result is a challenging and devastatingly beautiful record."[25]

Will Salmon of Clash called the album a "frequently beautiful return to form" and commented that "Tales Of Us is relentlessly one note but frequently beautiful, and a welcome change from the theatrics of its immediate predecessor, 2010's Head First"[18] In a more mixed review, Pitchfork Media's Andrew Ryce felt that "some of the duo's unique imagination is replaced with a traditionalism that feels incongruous with the rest of their career", adding that "[d]iehard fans of Goldfrapp will no doubt find something to love here, but for the rest of us, it's a thin record that doesn't do much to prop up its skeletal frame."[24] The Guardian's Dave Simpson argued that "the tunes don't all carry the album's single pace. As a result, Tales of Us is slightly more mesmerising soundscape than collection of genuinely outstanding songs."[19] Jeremy Allen of the NME was negative in his review, panning the album as "samey and indulgent".[23] Consequence of Sound said that the album was Goldfrapp's "most intimate and lavish recording to date", and that it moved away from previous electronic/disco stylings to form "a complex mesh between trip-hop and lounge."[27]

Commercial performance

Tales of Us debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 13,817 copies, earning Goldfrapp their fourth consecutive top ten studio album.[28] The album fell to number nineteen the following week, selling 4,484 units.[29] Internationally, Tales of Us reached the top ten in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, and the top twenty in Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway and Portugal.[30][31]

Track listing

All tracks written by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory.

No.TitleLength
1."Jo"4:38
2."Annabel"4:01
3."Drew"4:46
4."Ulla"3:49
5."Alvar"5:37
6."Thea"4:50
7."Simone"4:18
8."Stranger"4:12
9."Laurel"4:10
10."Clay"4:20
Total length:44:42

Box set also contains:[32]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Tales of Us.[36]

Goldfrapp
Additional personnel

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Edition Label Ref.
Australia 6 September 2013
Standard Mute [60][61]
Germany
  • CD
  • LP+CD
  • digital download
 [62][63][64]
Ireland
  • CD
  • digital download
 [65][66]
Netherlands
  • CD
  • LP+CD
 [67][68]
France 9 September 2013
  • CD
  • LP+CD
  • digital download
 [69][70][71]
Italy [72][73][74]
Netherlands Digital download [75]
Sweden [76]
United Kingdom
  • CD
  • LP+CD
  • digital download
 [77][78][79]
United States 10 September 2013
  • CD
  • LP+CD
  • digital download
 [80][81]
Sweden 11 September 2013 CD [82]
United Kingdom 2 December 2013 CD+DVD+LP box set Deluxe [83]
Japan 4 December 2013
  • CD
  • digital download
 Standard
  • Mute
  • Traffic
 [84][85]
Germany 27 June 2014 Digital download Deluxe Mute [86]
Ireland [87]
France 30 June 2014 [88]
United Kingdom [34]
United States 8 July 2014 [35]

References

  1. ↑ "Goldfrapp’s ‘Tales Of Us’: Album Review". Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on Idolator.com.
  2. ↑ Corner, Lewis (11 April 2011). "Goldfrapp 'start work on new album'". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 Rettig, James (11 June 2013). "Goldfrapp Announces 'Tales of Us' Album". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Goldfrapp reveal new album is coming". The Line of Best Fit. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "Goldfrapp to release new album 'Tales of Us' in September". NME. IPC Media. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Copsey, Robert (11 June 2013). "Goldfrapp reveal new album title, artwork". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Nile Rodgers joins Lauren". BBC Radio 6 Music. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "Timeline Photos". Facebook. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Drew". YouTube. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  10. ↑ "Thea – EP by Goldfrapp". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Drewett, Meg (20 January 2014). "Goldfrapp announce 'Tales of Us' film event, live performance". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  12. ↑ Savage, Mark (27 January 2014). "Goldfrapp tell tales in cinema project". BBC News Online. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Announce a unique Tales Of Us cinema event followed by exclusive live performance broadcast from Air Studios on 4 March.". Mute Records. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  14. 1 2 Flinn, Sue Carter (25 February 2014). "Film rights to Kathleen Winter's Annabel sold, thanks to Goldfrapp tune". Quill & Quire. St. Joseph Media. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  15. ↑ Frost, Amber (23 December 2013). "Sleep well my love: Goldfrapp bases song on tender letter from one World War II soldier to another". Dangerous Minds. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  16. 1 2 "Tales of Us – Goldfrapp". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  17. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Tales of Us – Goldfrapp". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  18. 1 2 Salmon, Will (27 August 2013). "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". Clash. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  19. 1 2 Simpson, Dave (5 September 2013). "Goldfrapp: Tales of Us – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  20. 1 2 Gill, Andy (7 September 2013). "Album: Goldfrapp, Tales of Us (Mute)". The Independent. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  21. 1 2 Hutcheon, David (September 2013). "The evil I". Mojo (238): 84–85.
  22. 1 2 Mainzer, Jordan (10 September 2013). "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". musicOMH. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  23. 1 2 Allen, Jeremy (5 September 2013). "Goldfrapp – 'Tales Of Us'". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  24. 1 2 Ryce, Andrew (12 September 2013). "Goldfrapp: Tales of Us". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  25. 1 2 Lathan, Ryan (13 September 2013). "Goldfrapp: Tales of Us". PopMatters. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  26. 1 2 Sullivan, Blue (9 September 2013). "Goldfrapp: Tales of Us". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  27. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales of Us - Album Reviews - Consequence of Sound". Consequence of Sound.
  28. ↑ Jones, Alan (16 September 2013). "Official Charts Analysis: Arctic Monkeys' AM doubles predecessor's week-one sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  29. ↑ Jones, Alan (23 September 2013). "Official Charts Analysis: Arctic Monkeys beat Avicii to No.1 on albums chart". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 October 2013. (subscription required)
  30. 1 2 "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  31. 1 2 "Top 100 Artist Album, Week Ending 12 September 2013". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  32. 1 2 3 "Tales of Us – Deluxe Box Set". goldfrapp.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  33. ↑ "Tales of Us (Deluxe Edition) by Goldfrapp". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  34. 1 2 "Tales Of Us: Goldfrapp: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  35. 1 2 "Tales of Us (Deluxe Edition) [+video]: Goldfrapp: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  36. ↑ Tales of Us (CD liner notes). Goldfrapp. Mute Records. 2013. CDSTUMM356.
  37. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  38. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  39. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  40. ↑ "TOP50 Prodejní: Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us" (in Czech). IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  41. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us" (in Danish). danishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  42. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  43. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  44. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  45. ↑ "Goldfrapp, Tales Of Us" (in German). charts.de. Media Control. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  46. ↑ "Top 10 Independent Artist Albums, Week Ending 12 September 2013". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  47. ↑ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 37 (dal 09-09-2013 al 15-09-2013)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  48. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  49. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". portuguesecharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  50. ↑ "2013 Top 40 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  51. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". spanishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  52. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". swisscharts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
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  54. ↑ "2013 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
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  56. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Chart history: Alternative Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  57. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Chart history: Independent Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  58. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2013 – Albums" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  59. ↑ "British album certifications – Goldfrapp – Tales of Us". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Tales of Us in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
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  61. ↑ "Tales of Us by Goldfrapp". iTunes Store Australia. Apple. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  62. ↑ "Tales of Us" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  63. ↑ "Tales of Us (Vinyl+CD)" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  64. ↑ "Tales of Us by Goldfrapp". iTunes Store Germany. Apple. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  65. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us". Tower Records Ireland. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
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  68. ↑ "Tales Of Us, Goldfrapp (LP)" (in Dutch). bol.com. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
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  72. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales of Us (CD Audio)" (in Italian). Internet Bookshop Italia. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  73. ↑ "Goldfrapp – Tales of Us (Vinile LP)" (in Italian). Internet Bookshop Italia. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
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  79. ↑ "Tales Of Us: Goldfrapp: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
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  84. ↑ "Tales Of Us". Traffic. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
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