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Review: Jack Foley
LADYTRON describe their third album, Witching Hour,
as their darkest, most emotional effort yet. But despite the harder
sound, it's not to be described as 'their rock album'!
Certainly, on the strength of past singles, Destroy Everything
You Touch and Sugar, the band seem to be fizzing
like never before, mixing their trademark synthesizer sound with
plenty more besides.
If there is a way to categorise the album, though, it's the sound
of an electronic band rediscovering their leftfield indie roots
with the help of super-producer Jim Abbiss (of DJ Shadow, Placebo
and Kasabian fame).
As such, the production values are top-notch even if not all
of the 13 tracks register as strongly as they might.
Highlights include the strident opening track, High Rise,
with its powerful slabs of guitar and frenetic beats - an effort
that really sets out the vibrant nature of the album.
The unashamedly angry Destroy Everything You Touch crops
up second, plunging you into familiar territory and maintaining
the album's sure-footed approach.
While International Dateline is a synth-driven slice
of dark disco pop that evokes memories of the Depeche Mode of
the Enjoy The Silence era.
Further tracks to look out for include Fighting in Built
Up Areas, an electro-goth workout that exemplifies the album
at its darkest and most menacing (complete with urban commentary),
while that same electronic coating is applied to the bouncier
Weekend, which cranks up the dance levels to the max.
The best news, however, is that whenever the album seems to have
become stuck in one sound, it tosses in another.
The short ambient moment that is CMYK catches you off-guard
and has you pining for more of its sedate melancholia, while the
tender ballad, Beauty Two, is a hauntingly effective
change of pace that marks the album at its most low-key and emotional.
All The Way, meanwhile, draws things to a close in suitably
seductive fashion, setting one of the most hypnotic vocals Helen
Marnine has ever put forward against the sort of dreamy soundscape
that Ulrich Schnauss would be proud of.
Ladytron may not know how to write happy records, by their own
admission, but the dark trip they take you on with Witching
Hour contains some genuinely spellbinding moments.
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Track listing:
Disc: 1
1. High Rise
2. Destroy Everything You Touch
3. International Dateline
4. Soft Power
5. CMYK
6. AmTV
7. Sugar
8. Fighting In Built Up Areas
9. Last One Standing
10. Weekend
11. Beauty 2
12. White Light Generator
13. All The Way
Disc: 2
1. Once Upon A Time In The East
2. Destroy Everything You Touch
3. Sugar
4. Seventeen
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