ladytron was always a band toying with time, memories. their first single, playgirl, sounded like a song i knew and loved from long ago. it's almost like the song was found after being lost for decades. it has such familiarity.

i went through a big ladytron phase. jason introduced me to playgirl, and i bought a cd single or ep when i was in the UK in 2000. they toured a few years later, and i went two nights in a row. i just adored them. i remember meeting reuben and mira at luxx one night, and standing near mira during a fischerspooner show somewhere in chelsea.

they fit in with the electroclash fad of the early aughts, they had great pop songs. they had this chic two-front-women look and strong music to back it up, somehow making old synth sounds refreshing. i think daniel hunt is just talented, has a knack for dialing into it. they also had the variety - helen's droll cute voice juxtaposed against mira's quirky songs, the bulgarian spoken word just coloring everything so intriguingly.

and some type of darkness. i remember it being referred to as magic in a review once. it's true, there are some songs that seem to go deep into your soul. it started with minor-toned trips like "International Dateline" but then progressed, transcended on the next album. i didn't follow very much after the next one (i can't even remember a song from it)...

but today i've just been blown away by "the island," which opens with m83-esque grand string synths, gorgeousness. wistful, major chord progressions, some dreaminess. and helen's voice is different, not quite as disaffected, it's a nice change.