Electro-pop rockers Ladytron returned this week, wowing both fans and the music press with their highly anticipated new album Time's Arrow on Cooking Vinyl Records, described by The Line Of Best Fit as "a collection of damn fine synth-pop".
On the crest of all this commotion, Townsend Music spoke to vocalist Helen Marnie and are proud to offer a signed test pressing of the album for one lucky winner.
Liverpudlian quartet Ladytron crash-landed into electroclash at the turn of the century, using the dancefloor as a bridgehead to the collective unconscious. On Time’s Arrow, the group add new richness, distant shimmers and a shoegaze-adjacent glow with Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo’s trademark understated voices now inhabiting a space somewhere between cloudscape and dream.
Reviews have glowed across the board, with AllMusic observing that "the band proved they could more than hold their own with the like-minded acts who sprang up in their wake" and MusicOMH impressed to declare "twenty years in and the fires are still burning brightly."
"We never tried to be anyone else. So that could never be our downfall. We have a sound that is unique to us, and that has attributed a lot to our longevity." - Helen Marnie
TM: Time’s Arrow is your first album for four years, following on from your self-titled 2019 release. A lot has happened in the last four years - how have the extraordinary world events of the past few years affected Ladytron's writing?
Helen: I don't think our writing has particularly been affected. Nothing has changed in the way we make music. Perhaps our outlook has a little. Our perspective moved slightly. I suppose Time's Arrow shows that we are distinctly more aware of the passage of time.
TM: “Beauty, disposability and fragility of the culture that surrounds us, and the exhilaration of freeing yourself from those structures…” are the themes tackled on Time’s Arrow. Could you expand a little bit on this, particularly in what way have you managed to extrapolate yourself from an increasingly divided and fractious culture?
Helen: I created my own bubble where my mind could wander and place myself in different scenarios and locations. Drawing on emotions and past experiences, but locating them differently, with different realities.
TM: Ladytron received a welcome boost in visibility during the pandemic, when ‘Seventeen’ from the 2002 album Light & Magic, went viral on TikTok - what is it about Ladytron that you feel has resonated with the TikTok generation?
Helen: I think kids like the simplicity and energy of 'Seventeen'. But there is also power in its simplicity.
TM: Finally, Ladytron’s been a band that has seen music trends come and go and remained loyal to your own vision of dark synth-pop as that style has gone in and out of (and back in!) vogue with the core line-up remaining largely intact. What attributes of Ladytron would you ascribe to your longevity and extraordinary creative streak?
Helen: We never tried to be anyone else. So that could never be our downfall. We have a sound that is unique to us, and that has attributed a lot to our longevity. We also write pretty great songs that resonate with a lot of people. Most of those people have stayed with us over the years, and I'm grateful for that.
Time's Arrow is available now on exclusive Turquoise Vinyl with limited edition signed print, Black Vinyl, Signed CD, Cassette and specially-priced bundles.
Enter our exclusive giveaway to be in with a chance of winning a signed Signed Test Pressing of Times Arrow.
The winner will be chosen on Monday 6th February 2023.
N.B: If the competition entry module is inaccessible, enter the giveaway directly via the button below.
Comments