Ladytron

A welcome return, Ladytron is a remarkably consistent and engaging album that befits the band's status as synth pop veterans.

Their eponymous return is an immersive, invigorating and convincingly brooding stomp of disenfranchisement.

Their sixth album shows them shaping the grim thoughts of The Animals and The Island into poised, potent songs. [Mar 2019, p.96]

Their finest record since 2002's Light & Magic, Ladytron achieve near perfection here. [Apr 2019, p.114]

Every Ladytron album has a few extremely low points, and on Ladytron those are “Run” (a part two to “The Animals,” not a particularly necessary one) and “Paper Highways” (the first part is great, as if wrought from iron wreckage, but it veers into a saccharine, completely misplaced chorus, like they handed it to Disney for a second). Much better as a ray of solace is the quietly experimental “Tomorrow Is Another Day.”

A carefully integrated mood piece, and the mood is bleak.

Long term fans won’t learn anything new here, but a good Ladytron album is better than no Ladytron album, and seeing how they didn't even seem to exist a few years ago, this is something to be thankful for.

While the singles "Until The Fire" and "The Animals" are satisfyingly sleek and sinister, Lady tron seem most energised when they head deep into the darkness in the starkly Numan-ist "Paper Highways" and "Deadzone." [Mar 2019, p.29]

At 13 songs it's an eventful ride and one that takes repeated listens to really click but once it does, Ladytron makes all the right noises in all the right places.

The songs are densely packed with buzzy synth frameworks that act as a base to launch swirling atmospherical textures that form like storm clouds around the cool bass grooves lurking underneath. Where the mechanical beats lack melody, the impassive vocals provide it, making good on the band's name.

For all the promise here, the definitive Ladytron album remains the 2011 compilation Best of 00-10.