Witching Hour (Plus DVD) [CD+DVD]

The quartet sees Liverpudlians Danny Hunt and Reuben Wu (instrumentalists) Scottish minx Helen Marnie (lead vocalist) and Bulgaria's greatest export Mira Aroyo (instrumentalist & vocalist) take their electronic sound on this long awaited third album, to the next level.

During the Light & Magic era they had embarked on an extensive tour of the United States which they've learned a lot from, so much so that they have brought this influence into the studio, you may have noticed how I've used the word 'instrumentalist' this is because they have included live bass and drums.

What grabbed me on first listen is the amount of new sounds, melodies and multi-layering that have been incorporated, from distorted reverb, buzzing synths and even a lullaby xylophone on 'The Last One Standing'. I've seen many references in other reviews to the album sounding like dream-pop/shoe-gazing and acknowledging bands like My Bloody Valentine or The Jesus & Mary Chain which is perhaps true, overall this still sounds incredibly fresh and certainly adds something new to the arena.

One of the most dynamic interests of the band is their ability to craft lyrics with ambiguous themes into their songs. This can lead to many different interpretations. Opening tracks 'High Rise', 'Destroy Everything You Touch' and 'International Dateline' seem based around confrontation and evoke images of the Cold War or impending apocalyptic doom of bombers flying 24 hours a day on standby. Whereas tracks 'AMTV' to the beautiful ballad 'Beauty*2' deliver feelings of jinxed, jilted and frustrated relationships. Ending track 'All The Way...' come across as a complete fairy tale in a fantasy world......but after hearing the mysteriousness of centre piece 'Soft Power' you could combine all those three themes into one song. It really is left to the listener what they think the song is about......on my account doom and gloom has never sounded so sweet and epic.

Vocally both Helen and Mira deliver magnificently....Mira takes lead vocal reins on two tracks these being 'AMTV' and in her native Bulgarian on 'Fighting In Built Up Areas'....Helen seems to soar most notable on my album favourite 'WhiteLightGenerator' which is just a blissfully lush epic track. On 'Beauty*2' Helen has an ethereal quality at first before launching a full vocal assault of overlapping lyrics (once it breaks down into a frenzy beat).

A recommended album which is pleasantly surprising as this is quite different from their previous offerings.....it just proves that they have the talent to diversity their electronic sound and they shouldn't be written off as just 'a bunch of haircuts' as one ungrateful person once commented. Out-standing.

Every track in my opinion is a gem; from the opening killer reverb of High Rise to the anthem sounding Destroy Everything You Touch (which should get everyone moving to its pounding beat). Lead vocalist Helen Marnie's vocals on International Dateline have never sounded more confident or epic....it leads on to the hidden scariness of Soft Power as it links the album title and with lyrics like 'the arrogance of the forest.....setting fire to the tourists' and 'daylight is the enemy' you can't help but feel that something is out to get you.....talking of a forest I felt like I was lost in one when the dark and melodic instrumental CMYK came on what with its brooding dirty bass-line.

AMTV sees fellow vocalist Mira Aroyo taking main vocals but this time not in her native Bulgarian....her vocal delivery and the tempo of the track make it easily the catchiest track on the album. The song seems to talk about a badly timed failure of a relationship with only an unsympathetic television for company.....

Sugar's fusion of pure infectious pop (the first single lifted from Witching Hour) with haunting wailing noises and guitar sounding synths has you asking what exactly is this Sugar? Is it a metaphor for something? Fighting In Built Up Areas is sadly the only Bulgarian spoken track on the album whereas on previous Ladytron albums we've had generous helpings of Mira's native vocals which have been a personal favourite of mine. This is best described as an industrial Bulgarian anthem.

With The Last One Standing's lullaby xylophone, Weekend's tale of escapism of going out only to bump back down Monday, to the wonderful standout ballad of Beauty*2 - Helen suggesting that a man with a dangerous or adventurous side is more attractive than looks alone perhaps? ('set you out to play that night, the alarms went off at three, funny how I'm not laughing now, he's not coming home to me') only for him to wonder off to somewhere/someone else. At first her voice seems to be singing through an echoed intercom but then the song moves from being a ballad to a full thumping kick beat with full overlapping vocals like many voices in one's head......

White Light Generator is the finest track on the album and quite sweeping, it's both epic and grandiose and a fitting tribute to shoe-gazing period pop reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine......the buzzing synth right at the end finally reveals a glimpse of the multi-layering of the album.

All The Way... an enigmatic lush album closer hard to guess what exactly it means with lines such as 'the calendar froze on even numbers' and 'don't want the same ghosts for company this evening' but it really fits for a last track and finishes it off really well

Overall the album is superb and if your wondering why there's a few mintues of silence after album closer All The Way... just look at the total running time of the CD and then look at the title of the album....the band's has a wonderful attention to detail

Highly recommended and you can't help but fall in love with Helen's vocals. It's my album of the year.

Stand out tracks are the single, 'Destroy Everyhting You Touch', 'Sugar', 'Beauty*2' and 'The Last One Standing'. In actual fact, apart from one instrumental filler there isn't a bad track on this record.

One of the highlight of 2005.