Flux (Lux Deluxe Edition)

Alison Goldfrapp was already in her thirties when she and multi-instrumentalist Will Gregory formed the London duo Goldfrapp. So it made sense that their subdued, lush, theatrical, early-2000s albums cemented them as masters of a sensual but grown-up strain of electro-pop: music made more for moody reflection than dance-floor abandon. Twenty-five years later, Goldfrapp’s namesake vocalist has turned the project into a solo endeavour and, by default, a creative vehicle for her personal growth. Her second album under her legal name opens with “Hey Hi Hello”, a breezy, spring-loaded tune in which she wonders, breathily: “So long, so low/Can I let it go?/Who will I dare to be?/The one I couldn't see.” There’s a theme of self-discovery that runs through so many of the songs to come—“Sound & Light”, “UltraSky”, “Strange Things Happen"—and no matter whether the tone feels bright or a little melancholic, nothing can cloud Goldfrapp’s mature, positive outlook on life. Suitably, the vibe is laid-back, but with Richard X—the king of the 2000s bootleg/mash-up phenomenon—helming a good portion of the production, the album still thrums with a neon vibrancy despite its easy tempo. It's most effective on “Find Xanadu” and “Reverberotic”, two tracks that find Goldfrapp basking in the glow of an ethereal energy.