Ladytron: Ladytron review – a distinctive sound in search of hooks

During the 00s, Anglo-Bulgarian synth quartet Ladytron released a string of sublime singles – Seventeen, Destroy Everything You Touch, Ace of Hz – without ever quite managing to release a consistently brilliant album. Their self-titled sixth album, their first since 2011’s Gravity the Seducer, doesn’t buck the trend, sadly.

There’s a directness and urgency its predecessor lacked – in part thanks to the unlikely presence of Sepultura founder Igor Cavalera on drums – but their sound remains unmistakable: strong analogue synth lines and propulsive rhythms topped by Helen Marnie’s and Mira Aroyo’s intertwining deadpan vocals. Ladytron certainly has much to recommend it: last year’s comeback single The Animals is as good as anything they’ve done, Figurine demonstrates their way with a surging melody, and You’ve Changed finds them at their most muscular. But too many of the other songs here drift past perfectly pleasantly, without enough of a hook to snag the imagination. Indeed, the likes of Far from Home and The Mountain disappear from the memory even before the next track starts. For all the promise here, the definitive Ladytron album remains the 2011 compilation Best of 00-10.