Ladytron
Formed: 1999
Location: Liverpool, England
Genre: Synth Pop, Electroclash
Years Active: 1999 -
Meaning of the Name: Taken from the song by Roxy Music, also titled 'Ladytron', about a man falling in love with a robot.
Core Members: Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Reuben Wu, Daniel Hunt
Way of Working: Collaborative
Essential Releases
604 (2001)
Debut album establishes their minimal electronica with vintage synths
Witching
Hour (2005)
A darker album with shoegaze influences.
Velocifero (2008)
Heavier, with pounding rhythms and more rock elements.
Fuelling their high-tech electronic sound with a turbo-charged creativity, Ladytron challenges the established rules of pop via a strange marriage of old and new. Electronica is a natural fit for futuristic music due to the melding of art and technology; here, however, the effect is more pronounced and purposeful.
The founders of the band, Reuben Wu and Daniel Hunt are huge sci-fi fans who use the genre as the basis of their sonic palette, incorporating the robotic sounds of the Korg MS-10, Helen Marnie's deadpan, stilted vocal delivery, and various digital 'glitches' and textures to create an "alien" sound.
In their early years, Ladytron pursued the sci-fi aesthetic to such a degree that their sleek black outfits were inspired by The Andromeda Strain (1971), a film about an alien pathogen infecting the human race. Synth player Mira Aroyo also has a science background, she gave up studying for a PhD in genetics to join the band full-time.
Ladytron's sonic futurism is, however, anchored by the musical nous of classically trained pianist Helen Marnie, who holds a degree in pop music. Her detached, monotone vocals haunt proceedings like a ghost in the machine, as if she studied the conventions of pop so she could later rebuke them. To illustrate, voices in the genre are typically dynamic, rising and falling to convey emotion. Here, it's a flatline. Her delivery strangely becomes a statement of its own: unmoved, steady, reliable, firm in the face of surrounding chaos.
The band's techno-futuristic sound also reinvigorates the past with its extensive use of the '80s favourite instrument: the synthesizer. Ladytron have, at various points, been influenced by the danceable hooks of some of the decades biggest stars, such as Gary Numan and Roxy Music (who even have a song titled 'Ladytron'), as well as the shoegazing tendency to drench everything in reverb (see Witching Hour).
To summarise, Ladytron combine multiple genres to create electronic music that appeals to fans of both indie and dance alike, utilising elements of the past to create a distinctly futuristic sound ready for the dancefloor. Indeed, if Luke Skywalker ever finds himself at a nightclub on Tatooine, he would likely be grooving to music that sounds like Ladytron.
Skills
*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.Emotional Impact
55
Mental Impact
80
Originality
70
Artistry
80
Authenticity
40
Live
65
Production
85
Musicianship
80
Singing
75
Songwriting
85
Danceability
80
Fun
70
Consistency
70
Range
75
Cool
60
Charisma
45
