It's hard to believe it's been nearly two decades since Ladytron unleashed its own version of electropop to the world. Hailing from Liverpool, the quartet of Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu first introduced themselves with their 2001 debut 604, a solid 16-track collection heavily influenced by the likes of Kraftwerk, New Order and Depeche Mode. In a period when the UK charts sounded a little uninspired (the No.1 singles ranged from JLo's Love Don't Cost A Thing to Limp Bizkit's Rollin' to Afroman's Because I Got High -- you get the idea), Ladytron's simmering cauldron of synth-pop and electro-industrial almost felt like an act of rebellion.
The following years saw the group continuing to roll out statement-making records. Light & Magic electrified with gems like Seventeen and riot grrrl-leaning True Mathematics, while Witching Hour charged mercilessly ahead with International Dateline, Destroy Everything You Touch and Sugar -- the three perfect examples of a well-balanced blend between shoegaze, goth-pop and witch house.
After the release of 2011's Gravity The Seducer, Marnie, Aroyo, Hunt and Wu went off to pursue their own creative endeavours, resulting in a hiatus that lasted almost a decade. Then, out of the blue they return with their long-awaited, self-titled sixth album. The foursome, now signed to the Berlin-based !K7 imprint, seem to be inspired by a reality that begins to feel more and more like a page out of George Orwell's 1984.
Which is why the end-of-the-world theme runs consistently throughout the record, starting with tracks like Until The Fire, which works in tandem with the album art depicting a forest engulfed in flame. Sonically, it's still very much what we're already accustomed to hearing from Ladytron, which is electropop shrouded in a haze of shoegaze, 80s synth-pop and new wave. Lyrically, however, things are conveyed with more bluntness and precision: "We are savages, give them your poison lips … Faith, lust, desire/ We are sirens of, of the apocalypse" (The Island) and "There's no wrong/ There's no God/ There's no harm/ There's no love" (The Animals).
The verdict: Listening to Ladytron's self-titled sixth LP is like reconnecting with that one goth friend from high school -- but, like, in a good way.
Listen to this: Under The Fire, The Island, Deadzone, Figurine, Horoscope.
THE PLAYLIST
Tae I'm Jogging / Ton Mai Glai Pen Gao-ii
I'm Jogging guitarist Sukittiphol "Tae" Jaiboon has been cranking out solo material under the moniker Tae I'm Jogging for a while now. For those of you who aren't familiar with this up-and-coming acoustic troubadour, his latest offering, Ton Mai Glai Pen Gao-ii [Tree Became Chair] is a perfect introduction to his acoustic pop sound and his ability to pen some of the most vivid lyrics we've come across this year. "I'm a tree/ The gentle breeze is my friend," Tae begins singing through the perspective of a tree. "I can only sing, telling it to the Moon/ Before I'm made into scraps of wood… They're turning me into a chair, they're turning me into a chair." Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to go sit in a quiet room and mull over this.
Dido / Take You Home
Judging by its title, Take You Home sounds like another placid pop song that falls in line with the majority of Dido's material. Make no mistake, this is still very much that, except there's a subtle electronic sheen that gives the track a new energy and momentum -- sort of like an update to Life For Rent's underappreciated Sand In My Shoes. "We could dance all night and sleep all day/ Kiss and love and just walk away," intones the UK songstress, her signature unperturbed vocals buoyed by four-to-the-floor beats. "Took pride in all the rules and disobey/ Move so slow, we didn't see a change." It's all very Walking Wounded-era Everything But The Girl, and we're loving it.
Röyksopp / Rising Urge (Lost Tapes)
When Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp announced that their fifth LP, 2014's The Inevitable End, would be their final album, they never meant they would quit the music industry and go live in the woods. What Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland wanted to do was explore outside the traditional album format, which has resulted in their latest project, Lost Tapes, a collection wherein "all obscure tracks will eventually see the light of day". Here, the pair has shared the project's lead single, Rising Urge, a five-minute mood piece containing those nocturnal atmospherics that have been the band's sonic trademark since their 2001 debut, Melody A.M.
Friendly Fires / Lack Of Love
If Dido's Take You Home was an amuse-bouche, Friendly Fires' cover of Charles B. and Adonis' 1988 house classic Lack Of Love would definitely be a main course. Touted by drummer Jack Savidge as "an important tune" for the band, the track sustains a dancefloor-friendly dynamic previously introduced by lead cuts Love Like Waves and Heaven Let Me In. "More affection, how I yearn/ All your loving, I could burn … Symptoms are caused because/ Hurting from the lack of love", frontman Ed Macfarlane achingly sings over a trippy backdrop of acid-house squelches. Come to think of it, Hurting, from their last record, Pala, might have been influenced by this gem also.
Shura / BKLYNLDN
It's been a minute since we've heard from UK musician Shura, but now she returns with the first piece of new music since the release of her 2016 debut, Nothing's Real. Titled BKLYNLDN, the track details a long-distance relationship that has culminated in her relocation to Brooklyn, where her partner lives. "This isn't love/ This is an emergency," she asserts over what sounds like a wholesome blend between electropop and 90s R&B ballads. "So you're coming over Brooklyn to London/ Though I didn't expect it/ Now we're lying in my bed," she adds in celebration of queer love.
