Review: Ladytron- Gravity the Seducer

Originally posted on www.soundblab.com

So Ladytron are back on the music scene with their eagerly anticipated fifth studio album. The electro-pop band, who hail from Liverpool, burst onto the music scene a decade ago and have continued to release their original electro-pop sound ever since. However, this time I'm afraid they failed to make the cut.

The latest album was recorded with Barny Barnicott, who has worked with Arctic Monkeys, Editors and Kasabian at the helm, as they wanted a much grander sound with a more baroque element. Now, I can see where they were coming from and the beats throughout the album and the majority of the vocals incorporate this vision, while the whole album is just brimming with ambient vocals and chilling dramatic beats but it's a shame that the songs as a whole just aren't that good.

With the use of this sound and similar vocals on each song, bar a few (which either have no vocals at all and became a musical yawn fest or had simple spoken lyrics which weren't much better), the album just seems to blend into one and you get flat-out bored after about the first two or three songs … Four, tops. The album has the general feel of trying to appeal to the gaming market in the hope that some new game will opt to use the music, because to be quite honest listening to it felt as though I was just listening to someone playing a PlayStation game.

Yes, the album has a few highlights. The music is good in places but you get bored of hearing the same beat. The only song that stuck out for me was 'Ace of HZ' , and if they want a commercial hit, which they have never had, then this is their best hope. On the whole, however, the album was a pretty big let-down. Better luck next time.