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Ladytron isn't doing anything terribly complex on their latest
album Witching Hour: angelic female vocals over electronica
beats. On paper, it's nothing that hasn't been done before. But aesthetically,
it is pure bliss. They have come a long way from their 2002 indie
club hit "Seventeen." Not that there was anything wrong
with that song (I am probably the only 21-year-old who adores it,
with the line, "They only want you when you're 17/When you're
21 you're no fun"), but let's just say Ladytron has evolved very
nicely.
Witching Hour is a mature, sultry, retro-but-futuristic album,
not without a few club hits to please the kiddies. "Destroy Everything
You Touch" (already in the top 10 of every indie club playlist)
is catchy and danceable, but seductive and brooding, like a hushed
anger brewing beneath the surface. In fact, this description could
probably characterize the entire first half of Witching Hour,
which is rather appropriately titled. In "International Dateline,"
vocalist Helen Marnie takes us on a journey that she seems
reluctant to take herself. "Woke up in the evening/To the sound
of the screaming" sets a gorgeously eerie tone for an album's
third track, which is typically supposed to be the most upbeat. This
leads right into the moody "Soft Power," which contains
the album's namesake. Mira Aroyo lends backing spoken word
to Marnie's ethereal vocals as they sing the almost sadistic words,
"We're not sleeping at the wheel/The wheel is turning the machine
that kills for us." "CMYK" serves as an 80's-esque
instrumental interlude, while "Sugar" acts as the national
anthem for casual dating: "If I give you sugar/Will you give
me/Something elusive and temporary?" The album's most unique
track "Fighting In Built Up Areas" features Aroyo speaking
in a foreign language over a steady, persistent drumbeat. Marnie lends
her celestial vocals to add texture, and of course eeriness, bringing
depth and profundity to the album overall. "Weekend", with
the lines "Friday is the fever/And Monday the destroyer/You are
a permanent feature/Perpetual weekend," could be placed in the
"club hit" category until it moves beyond this label with
its strikingly otherworldly closing. The surprise highlight of the
album is "Beauty*2," an alluring ballad featuring Marnie
with a twinge of agony in her voice that is only hinted at in "International
Dateline." The listener can sense her laments over a rendezvous
gone sour in the repetitious overlays as she sings the lyrics, "Hey
can I go with you/When the rendezvous is over/It's over."
Listening to Witching Hour is similar to getting a tetanus
shot: it kind of freaks you out at first, but it's good for you in
the long run. Had Ladytron decided to go for the sinister Witch theme
throughout the course of this album, it would have grown tired. Fortunately,
they didn't, and it resulted in a beautiful, well-rounded record.
It is arranged like your standard big budget film: It grabs your attention
("High Rise", "Destroy Everything You Touch"),
gets a little bit scary ("International Dateline", "Soft
Power"), a little bit sexy ("Sugar"), doesn't always
make sense ("Fighting In Built Up Areas"), climaxes ("Weekend"),
makes you cry ("Beauty*2"), takes you somewhere far, far
away ("White Light Generator"), and comes to an end with
something like "All The Way", which even sounds like music
you might hear in the closing credits of a film. Witching Hour
may just bring Ladytron out of their previous indie-club-band
status, and into the realm of intelligent music where they belong.
-Allegra Willis
Track Listing:
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
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