It marked a departure from the ambient sound of their debut album, Felt Mountain (2000), incorporating glam rock and synth-pop music; inspirations were Spanish disco group Baccara and Swedish techno artist Håkan Lidbo.

The duo wrote three songs while touring in support of their debut album Felt Mountain, but decided to take their work in a different direction with more rhythmic music.

Goldfrapp held jam sessions with Mark Linkous and Adrian Utley and, after they built momentum writing the album, decided not to move to another studio.

[9] The album focuses more heavily on dance music and glam rock-inspired synthesisers than its predecessor,[13] and is influenced by Spanish disco group Baccara and Swedish techno artist Håkan Lidbo.

"[27] Rolling Stone's Pat Blashill noted that "[t]ons of bands imitate the sounds of the early Eighties, but Goldfrapp use New Wave as a way to evoke a long history of shiny Euro-lounge music.

"[18] Andy Hermann of PopMatters viewed Black Cherry as "a weird, edgy album, the work of two doggedly maverick talents chasing their muses wherever they take them".

[1] Drowned in Sound's Gen Williams expressed that the album's "crystalline, neon-edged beauty, its pulsing army of beats and Alison's lush, lethargically versatile vocals, swinging between sultry and seraphic throughout, make it—for now at least—a largely satisfying record that indicates imminent and deserved success for Goldfrapp.

[23] In a mixed review, Heather Phares of AllMusic commended Goldfrapp for their "artistic risk-taking", but felt that the album "sounds unbalanced, swinging between delicate, deceptively icy ballads and heavier, dance-inspired numbers without finding much of a happy medium between them.

"[17] Michael Idov of Pitchfork criticised the duo's switch to electro music, while describing Black Cherry as "a soundtrack to excruciatingly banal seduction".

[32] Later that month, on 26 August 2005, Black Cherry was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments in excess of 300,000 copies in the UK.