Note: Putting the moon in your mouth would be a great idea if it were made of cheese…
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[5.83]
Katherine St Asaph: Goldfrapp continues their stylistic oscillation apace. I continue to long for another Tales of Us, but “Moon in Your Mouth” is closer than I would have hoped: post-coital bliss projected to cosmic scale. Anything this reminiscent of the last Röyksopp album, or of Sarah Brightman if her ’90s career diverged into lush drama instead of Sia covers, is welcome here.
[7]
Claire Biddles: I love a barnstorming Goldfrapp banger as much as the next gay indie disco regular, but this slight return to Felt Mountain-era wooziness is welcome too. “Moon in Your Mouth” feels like that record’s luxe pastoral seen through the glitter lens of latter-day Goldfrapp, from the introductory high synth line that seems to mimic vibrato strings, to the swell of noise that envelops Alison’s clear, crisp vocals like an electric blanket.
[8]
Tim de Reuse: The sound design here is a simple trick; take half of a Com Truise track and play it back at half speed. I could just act cynical at how intensely this song relies solely on a sense of cloudy analog synth-ful “atmosphere” to stay interesting (the lyrics are largely as airy as the reverb, and the delivery of the phrase “We’re alive” overdoses on wide-eyed wonder) but, hey, credit where credit’s due: it all does sound gorgeous.
[6]
Jonathan Bradley: I can’t hate something this pretty, but I also feel like it should be a trap: a clearing in a an otherworldly forest, misted in gauzy midnight glow, should be a lure of the fair folk. Making it through untroubled transforms potency into ephemera.
[5]
Alfred Soto: The thickness of the synthesized textures used to be pleasurable ends in themselves; on this track they gum up the already lethargic programmed rhythms. Uninteresting vocal melody too.
[4]
Edward Okulicz: The idea of having the moon in your mouth reminds me of a similar lyrical image from Björk (who was going to take the sun in her mouth), and I like the image because the moon can represent any fantasy you damn well want. The song’s kind of an impenetrable fog though, a bit like trying to gaze upon the surface of Venus but being stymied by cloud cover. There’s something post-coital about it, but I’ve come in at the point where the thrill has subsided, and the melodies here don’t fill me in on those thrills either.
[5]