Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree / Finding Neverland…


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I recently picked up the special edition release of Goldfrapp’s Seventh Tree. Unlike their other albums, Seventh Tree utilizes more organic, gentle instrumentation, a foray from their previous disco synth-pop endeavors. It’s really the perfect blend of wistfulness and ambience. While several tracks are jovial and bouncy, fans of their previous releases may need some getting used to. It’s more Bowie and Beatles than Madonna or Minogue. Anyway, I love it.

One of my favorite tracks, “Happiness,” comes into my life conveniently as I find myself playing psychologist to a few of my friends. I’m brought back to the days when I was sorting my own mental innards… back when I feel I came upon the secret to true happiness.

A few months ago, a good friend of mine asked me to write an essay on happiness for a book she was publishing. I was in Vancouver at the time and had plenty of time to reflect, so I wrote what I felt to be a good summation of the most important lesson I ever learned. I don’t want to give away the whole essay before it’s published, so here’s a key quotation:

I try my best to discard inaccurate visions of the future and exist in the present. No one knows what will happen, after all. All I can do is stay open for anything. I just have a pretty good feeling about things. That’s what happiness is, I think. It’s high hopes and no expectations…

It’s a blue, bright blue Saturday.