Legendary Liverpool electronic outfit Ladytron prove the festive season came early this year with their shimmering surprise single ‘All Over By Xmas‘.
Their signature glacial synths and propulsive beats adorn this impeccable slice of synth-pop like strands of tinsel, marrying Yuletide cheer to the band’s cooly detached style.
Yet holiday clichés never materialise amidst the track’s arrangement. Instead, an uplifting melancholic haze prevails, Marnie’s vocals evoking ill-fated holiday romances and parties past. Like museum artefacts under shifting coloured lights, familiar seasonal touchstones glint alluringly but slightly alien under Ladytron’s prismatic lenses.
The single finds Ladytron fashioning their own unique breed of retro-futurist holiday magic. Brief outbreaks of dancefloor-ready rhythmic intensity only highlight the track’s prevailing enigmatic atmosphere. Twenty years on, Ladytron still bewitch utterly on their own inimitable terms.
Photo Credit: Wendy Redfern
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