via Wikimedia

Ladytron vocalists Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo open the album with “White Elephant,” a song heavy with synthesizer and a bewitching mystical sound gliding into a pattern that accompanies the duo singing “Surrender with me, we’re walking in our sleep.”

“Mirage” fits in the blend of the album’s painting of eerie melodies and resembles a song which Stevie Nix might’ve sang and danced in her mysterious witchcraft ways, leaving the listener entranced.

The song “White Gold” opens up with an echoing synthesized fast-paced note forming an eerie atmosphere creating a dialogue with the lyrics “the color of deception” and setting up the tone for the song.

After the first chorus a unique instrument, the Conn organ, adds to the synthpop sound alongside plastic hollow pipes pitched to sound like a guitar being plucked.

“Ace of Hz” reminisces on the synthesizer driven time of much 80’s music coupled with steady drum beats and cymbal taps. Helen gets more upbeat with a syncopated rhythm while Mira accompanies in ascending background melodies that make the tambourine seem fit for this celestial tune, providing a consistent beat for dancing all night.

In the middle of the album, “Ritual” and “Altitude Blues” ditch the lyrics for most of the songs and rev up the synth with Depeche Mode-esque chord progressions and end with a trance-like drive perfect as an interlude song, further connecting the overall tone of the album.

“Moon Palace” continues the ride through a realm of space travel mixed with 80’s synth but presents nothing new to the set.

“Ambulances” takes on a slightly new tone reminiscent of Enya’s “Sail Away,” with the violin speaking a dialogue with snippets of notes and the ethereal vocals nesting on the same volume level as the instrumentals.

The twin song of “Ace of Hz,” “Aces High” finishes off the album with a continuation of the repeating pattern of cymbal and synth, dotted with melodic violin ghosting the vocals found in “Ace of Hz.”

From the soaring electronic vocals to the synthesized organs forming a ghostly dynamic, Ladytron pushes the boundaries of their previous sounds and albums by producing an album consistent within itself of an old-school electronic echoing resonance, blurring the lines among the new wave, electropop and synthpop genres.