Goldfrapp

Despite creating synth-spangled, electro-glam hits tailor made for a night under the glitterball, Alison has been raring to go since 8am. "I love getting up early. Your environment doesn’t matter, it’s where you travel in your mind. Ha ha!"

The duo – completed by Will Gregory – return with their fifth album, Head First, which eschews the introspection of 2008’s Seventh Tree for a lush and celebratory electropop joyride which reinforces Alison’s position as an originator from whom other ladies in the genre take their cue.

We hear you’re not a fan of the ’80s, even though your album pulls in influences from the era…
"What I hated about the ’80s was that it was pretty grim for England – under Thatcher – and the fashion was pretty dire. It had a bleak feel about the whole era. Although at the same time it was over the top, with some great, alternative things going on. The things I liked as a kid were Prince and Grace Jones, this exciting, big music coming from America or Europe. A lot of music coming out of England just wasn’t my cup of tea."

You keep some pretty stellar company – do you get starstruck?
‘I’m always quite starstruck. The first time I met Madonna I couldn’t actually get off the chair to shake her hand. It must have appeared really rude but it was because I was totally gobsmacked that she’d just walked in beeline for me. I don’t think I managed to get any words out, I just sort of froze and grinned inanely.’

When you’re trussed up onstage do you feel powerful?
‘Sometimes, and sometimes I feel quite vulnerable. But it’s fun, ultimately. That’s what you have to remember, and not take yourself so bloody seriously. I love clothes and I love the drama they bring, the visual elements, it’s part of the storytelling of music.’

You wear a lot of up-and-coming designers and you also design a lot of your stage attire. Would you consider doing a line?
"I’d love to do something like that, but I’m not sure if the public would be interested… you might be my only
customer! It’s very homespun, I really enjoy what we do. It’s not a Lady Gaga  made a budget, it’s all mucking in together."

Your mum isn’t too thrilled with the pagan attire in your stage show…
‘No, my mum’s very religious, so anything remotely pagan is the Devil. She came to a gig when we had girls pole-dancing on the maypole, and she really didn’t approve of that.’

Are you a Gaga fan?
"She’s definitely taken the crown as the Queen of Pop. She’s the new Madonna, I think, because she’s young. Madonna’s wonderful, but she’s done her thing. Lady Gaga’s passionate about what she does, it’s extreme and really good fun. Personally, I think the clothes are a lot more interesting than the music. But who knows, she’s obviously really talented, so it’ll be interesting to see where her career goes. For someone so young to know what she wants to do is incredible. I think [her success] is to do with timing as well: we all want something to escape to."

After living in the countryside for years you’re now back in London…
"I love the countryside but I feel so much better being here, around my friends. I love being able to walk out on the street and see every kind of person under the sun. London has the best sort of culture there is. You forget, but you have to remember and make the most of it."

Does it bother you that recently there’s been more scrutiny on your personal life and your current girlfriend?
"Whatever! I’ve always been very quiet about my private life, and it was the first time I’ve been talked about outside the context of music, so that was a bit of a shocker. The first thing that appeared was in a style magazine and I was more fed up by the way they talked about it – it was so clichéd. The premise I found slightly depressing, “middle-aged lezzers”– oh God, you know! But I’m glad they showed a nice picture. I haven’t been asked about it as much as I thought I’d be, and it’s been kind of interesting talking about it. I’m fine with it. Sometimes people want you to put a label on things to make things easier, and life isn’t really like that. Life and humans are far more complicated than being one thing or another."  Kim Taylor Bennett

Goldfrapp play Splendour in the Grass (30 Jul-1 Aug).

Head First is out now on Mute.