Product Reviews
Gravity the Seducer arrived when the frosty synth pop Ladytron had excelled at for over a decade was being popularized by the likes of Crystal Castles, Cold Cave, and Austra. Ever the contrarians, Ladytron went in a very different direction on their fifth album; though the single Ace of Hz hinted at a subtler, darker direction, it didn t fully convey the extent of it: Gravity the Seducer downplays the band s pop strengths in favor of elaborate textures and vast atmospheres (as suggested by the endless vista on the cover). Ace of Hz s melody runs through the album as a motif, while there are no less than three instrumentals here, including the lovely Transparent Days, which sounds like Brian Eno covering Telstar. Opening track White Elephant makes it clear how committed Ladytron are to turning away from Velocifero's hard-edged electro-rock, and indeed Gravity the Seducer is more focused even if it s not as accessible. The band throws its pop fans a few bones with the swirling Mirage, one of many songs here that deals with duality and deception; the paranoid, driving Melting Ice ; and the Mira Aroyo-sung Moon Palace, which echoes the album s cryptic feel with lyrics like the serpent sea is calling out your name. Helen Marnie makes 90 Degrees sound downright arctic, while White Gold reaffirms the group can sound colder than any cold wave revivalists and the melody of Ambulances sounds like a pale, slow reflection of Light & Magic's Seventeen. Gravity the Seducer's whispers and hints have a fragile, haunting quality that reveals itself over time. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi
Product Notes
2011 release, the fifth album from the Liverpudlian Electro-rockers. Gravity The Seducer, the long-awaited follow up to 2008's Velocifero, is another chapter after a decade's worth of evocative, instinctive yet deliberate electronic Pop music. Gravity the Seducer is more of a jump than the last album - more ethereal and melodic, a touch more abstract in places - Baroque 'n' Roll. Ladytron recorded the album in Kent's countryside, with co-producer Barny Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Editors) at the helm.