Artist: Ladytron
Album: Velocifero
Rating: 7 out of 10
The fourth album from Ladytron finds the quartet awash in chilly guitars and warm distortion both. Like their previous efforts, Velocifero is both inviting and aloof in equal measures, with an often dispassionate vocal hiding a much stronger sentiment. Continuing the move away from the crisp electro of Light & Magic, Velocifero continues the sound Ladytron began with their previous album, the excellent Witching Hour.
While this album is more consistent than the last, a degree of sameness begins to infect the tracks the further into the album one goes. All the tracks never fall below an admittedly high degree of quality, but there are few definite stand outs. While this makes for a very solid album, it also means there’s nothing as immediate as “International Dateline” or as intriguing as “Fighting In Built Up Areas.” Still, first single “Ghosts”, “Deep Blue”, and “Burning Up” are excellent pop songs in the Ladytron mold, and “Runaway” is a fascinating response to early songs like “Playgirl” and “Seventeen.” When all is said and done, though, it leaves the listener eagerly anticipating exactly where the band will go next. 7 out of 10.
