Goldfrapp: Tales of Us (Live)

Goldfrapp: Tales of Us is a bold short film comprised of a cluster of vignettes based on five songs from the beloved chanteuse Goldfrapp’s latest album, Tales of Us. With each respective vignette within the 30-minute anthology, a song (namely Stranger, Laurel, Jo, Drew and Annabel) from the album accompanies the moody, ethereal and vastly different tales. It almost plays out like five consecutive music videos (in fact, exactly like five consecutive music videos).

The short was then subsequently followed by Alison Goldfrapp herself, who also made sporadic appearances in the short films, treating fans to a live performance at Air Studios which was transmitted into cinema screens across the globe simultaneously. For one night only, Ms Goldfrapp played music from both her previous and current albums and there were countless instances where she would talk directly to the screen as if she were really there with the cinema-going audiences, sharing her influences and small anecdotes, to which the audience responded gaily.

Love, gender identity and desire are common, notable themes often heard in Goldfrapp’s lyrics of these five particular songs, and there is quite a clear and abundant correlation between the themes the album explores and the audacious visual choices made by director and Goldfrapp’s girlfriend/collaborator Lisa Gunning (whose repertoire as cinematic editor includes as Seven Psychopaths and Nowhere Boy). 

It would come as no surprise then to say that Gunning also hand in the editing process and the postmodernist, avant-garde approach is more than appropriate for Goldfrapp’s airy, light-as-a-feather aesthetic. It is pretty clear that as both professional collaborators and romantic partners, Gunning and Goldfrapp are very much in harmony with one another. Progressive novelist Patricia Highsmith was cited as an inspiration for the album and most likely the short film too, with ocular allusions to Highsmith’s gothic, romantic imagery in the ominous, eerie cinematography.

Tales of Us is bound to attract Goldfrapp’s dedicated niche following who can emotionally resonate with her music, but perhaps no one else outside of that demographic. So if you’re a diehard Goldfrapp fan, really, what’s stopping you?

Michele Schettino

Goldfrapp: Tales of Us (Live) was screened for one night only on 4th March 2014.

Watch the trailer for Goldfrapp: Tales of Us (Live) here: