Ladytron Preview First New LP in Seven Years With ‘The Animals’
Ladytron released a glossy, metronomic single titled “The Animals” on Thursday. The single will appear on an as-yet-untitled new album – the group’s first since 2011 – set for release later this year.
“The Animals” marches forward propelled by brittle percussion and the short, sharp synthesizer riffs popularized by early Eighties New Wave bands. Lead singer Helen Marnie condenses the hook into a punchy, breathless chant as choral backing vocals glide through the mix behind her.
Jim Abbiss, who also worked on Ladytron’s 2005 album Witching Hour, produced the track. “‘The Animals’ was the first new song we had, and with it we went immediately into the studio with Jim,” Marnie said in a statement. “He’s the producer who has really understood us the most.”
Ladytron has been dormant since 2011’s Gravity the Seducer, which reached Number Six on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart. In the interim, band members worked on outside projects – Marnie, for example, released a pair of solo albums – before they reconvened to start writing together again in 2016.
After recording for a series of labels, including Island and Nettwerk, Ladytron decided to release their upcoming LP on their own. The group is raising money for the album through a Pledge Music campaign.