‘I fancy you Alison!’ shouts one woman up high in the circle. ‘I’ll cook you dinner!’ yells a man right after. The Edinburgh crowd is delighted to see Alison Goldfrapp, this time flying solo. Three years ago, the synthpop goddess felt she had lost her mojo and took a sabbatical; fed up with showbusiness, she took a road trip round New Mexico with no music, before returning ready to work on a new solo album.

The noughties were heavily soundtracked by Goldfrapp, her glorious glam-pop duo with Will Gregory, including their first album Felt Mountain in 2000, followed by 2003’s Black Cherry and 2005’s Supernature. For her debut solo album, The Love Invention, Goldfrapp brings an icy dancefloor-leaning sheen to the bouncy machine beats and sultry synth lines.

Tonight, Goldfrapp appears with slicked-back blonde hair, wrapped in a jagged black Alexandre Vauthier frock, high on chunky platform boots. Sensual new electronic tracks ‘So Hard So Hot’ and ‘The Beat Divine’ have the crowd rippling their arms and torsos in appreciation. Before ‘Gatto Gelato’ she asks an Italian in the front row to confirm that it translates as ‘frozen cat’: Goldfrapp’s nod to an underground Italo-disco DJ nickname. 

A huge wall behind her glows with pastel flowers, neon lights and 80s white grids, while three dancers writhe seductively behind her in purple satin, bringing energetic angular dance moves. Goldfrapp sticks to more minimal movements, keeping the glacial cool demeanour she’s famous for, but breaking into more fluid shoulder rolls and rhythmic dancing for older tracks ‘Ride A White Horse’ and ‘Rocket’. She is a self-confessed shy person and seems nervous tonight, despite the crowd going wild, and asking us at one point, ‘am I boring you?’ Based on their untamed reaction to the pulsing, strutting encore of ‘Strict Machine’ and hypnotic new tracks ‘In Electric Blue’ and ‘Fever’, definitely not. 

Alison Goldfrapp reviewed at Edinburgh Playhouse as part of Edinburgh International Festival.