Ladytron

When they first appeared in the early 2000s, Ladytron was wrongly included in the era's electroclash trend, but their body of work proved much more enduring and influential than that movement. With touches of synth-pop, shoegaze, disco, and industrial music, Ladytron fused the basics of classic synth-pop, crystalline melodies enveloped in icy textures and rippling arpeggios. While they never deviated much from this style, they still conjured distinctly different moods on each album, spanning the hook-laden simplicity of the 2000s 604 to the darker feel of 2005 's landmark Witching Hour to the meditative Gravity the Seducer of 2011. Just how far they bridged, the gap between the initial '80s heyday of synth-pop and its revival in the 2010s was illustrated by the Ladytron of 2019, which blends well with their previous albums as well as the work of artists such as Chvrches, Robyn, and Austra.

Ladytron formed in 1999 when Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu, a pair of friends who met in the mid-'90s, after traveling and spinning records in Japan. They recorded their first single, 'He Took Her to a Movie,' for 50 pounds. Inspired by Kraftwerk's 'The Model' and featuring vocals by Lisa Eriksson, the single introduced Ladytron's bittersweet yet edgy electronic pop and earned critical acclaim on release. Their debut album, 604, was released in early 2001. The album's singles found some success in Ladytron's homeland, with 'Playgirl' reaching number 89 on the U.K. Singles Chart. Velocifero reached number 75 on the U.K. Albums Chart & the band was seen performing with Brian Eno at the Sydney Opera House in 2010. While the band released a collection of Gravity the Seducer remixes in 2013, no sign of new music from Ladytron appeared until 2016 when they began work on their sixth album. A reunion with Witching Hour producer Abbiss that featured Sepultura's Igor Cavalera on drums, Ladytron appeared in February 2019.