The Daily Spin, May 9
Ladytron | Gravity the Seducer
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Gravity The Seducer (2011)
Artist: Ladytron
Link:
For an album that ostensibly is named for the pull of gravity, this record is endlessly light, floating on an air all of its own creation. It feels a little wobbly and unsteady - and further exploration of Ladytron’s own catalogue tells me that Gravity is a bit of a transitional album - or at the very least, was designed to be.
That’s not inherently a bad thing, nor does it necessarily mean that it’s weaker - but in the great scope of understanding why I feel about this record the way I do, I think it’s a useful tool, one that allows us to examine this record compared to the remainder of their discography and with it understand why this junction between pop, synthwave, and sounds that border on industrial.
In some ways, this feels a little more like an anthology than a designed album, in that I’m left feeling like this isn’t an entirely cohesive body as it was built, rather the remnants of others patched together, and I think that’s where my failing with this album comes in. It’s got bright moments, glimmering synths sparkling guides through tracks like ‘Transparent Days’, but too often, you’re swung between vast chasms with no real warning or understanding behind making those moves. It’s all a bit like watching me play chess.
Rating: 7.5/10
Best Tracks: White Gold; Altitude Blues
Worst Tracks: Ace Of Hz