Line #46 Music/Ladytron


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ladytron_515347.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: Reuben Wu, Mira Aroyo, Daniel Hunt, Helen Marnie]]
3
4	Ladytron is a [[CultClassic cult]] British ElectronicMusic band formed in 1999 in Liverpool. It consists of Helen Marnie (vocals, synths), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synths) and Daniel Hunt (guitar, synths) along with Reuben Wu on synths from 1999 to 2023. Also they're all songwriters and [=DJs=].
5
6	Their music style could be described as SynthPop with influences from NewWaveMusic, Shoegazing, DreamPop, IndustrialRock, PostPunk. They called their music electronic pop.
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8	Ladytron have produced remixes for many artists like Music/NineInchNails, SONOIO, David Gahan, Music/{{Goldfrapp}}, Apoptygma Berzerk, Music/{{Placebo}}, Simian, Music/{{Blondie\|Band}}, Music/ChristinaAguilera, Gang of Four, Indochine, Music/BlocParty, Kings of Convenience, She Wants Revenge, Music/{{Soulwax}}, and more.
9
10	They took their name from the song "Ladytron" by Music/RoxyMusic. According to the legendary Music/BrianEno, who was also a member of Roxy Music, Ladytron are "the best of English pop music".
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12	In 2012, Marnie started a solo career and released the album ''Crystal World'' in 2013, followed by a second album, ''Strange Words and Weird Wars'', in 2017.
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14	In 2023, two months after the release of the album ''Time's Arrow'', Wu announced his departure from the band, citing his developing career as a photographer in the United States, in the process declaring himself "Ladytron's number one fan".
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16	[[AC:Discography]]
17	* ''604'' (2001)
18	* ''Light & Magic'' (2002)
19	* ''Witching Hour'' (2005)
20	* ''Velocifero'' (2008)
21	* ''Gravity the Seducer'' (2011)
22	* ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Ladytron]]'' (2019)
23	* ''Time's Arrow'' (2023)
24	----
25	!!Witching Tropes:
26
27	* AlbumTitleDrop: ''604'' gets its title from the lyrics of "I'm With the Pilots" (''604'' is also a reference to ''Literature/TheAndromedaStrain''), ''Light & Magic'' from its title song, ''Witching Hour'' from the chorus of "Soft Power", ''Gravity the Seducer'' from the lyrics of "Ninety Degrees", ''Time's Arrow'' from its title song.
28	* AnimatedMusicVideo: "Evil" (UK version).
29	* BilingualBonus: Because Aroyo was born and partly raised in Bulgaria, their first four albums have ''at least'' one song sung entirely in Bulgarian. They even did a cover of a Bulgarian rock song ("Kletva" from their fourth album, ''Velocifero'').
30	* BoyishShortHair: Marnie and Aroyo during promotion of their first two albums. ZigZagged in their subsequent albums.
31	* BrokenRecord: All two verses of "Seventeen".
32	* BunniesForCuteness: In the video for "Ghosts", many rabbits add cuteness to imagery that would otherwise be quite dark. The concept was inspired by the animation ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown''.
33	* CoordinatedClothes: Until around 2004, they used to wear black or olive uniforms.
34	* CoverVersion:
35	** Recorded versions: "Open Your Heart" by Music/TheHumanLeague, "Oops Oh My" by Tweet, and "Kletva" by Shturtzite.
36	** Live versions: "Nag Nag Nag" by Music/CabaretVoltaire, "Send Me a Postcard" by Music/ShockingBlue.
37	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Witching Hour'', ''Velocifero'' and ''Ladytron''.
38	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their very first song "He Took Her to a Movie" was sung by Lisa Eriksson instead of Helen Marnie and/or Mira Aroyo, since at that point the band was essentially just Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu (although Eriksson sounds a lot like Marnie, and the backing vocals heard through the song, which sound quite like Aroyo, appear to be [[SelfBackingVocalist Eriksson being her own backing vocalist]]). Also, while still electronic, it's more of a straight Music/{{Kraftwerk}} derivative rather than the more eclectic GenreMashup their later output is known for, at times even sounding like Kraftwerk's "The Model".
39	* EscapedFromTheLab: The video "The Island" depicts a humanoid lab subject attempting this, wandering through the British landscape and breaking into a young boy's house. [[spoiler: The scientists [[DownerEnding catch up with her]] however, eventually taking her out to a field and [[KillItWithFire setting her on fire]].]]
40	* EveryEpisodeEnding: They usually play "Destroy Everything You Touch" at the end of their shows since this tune was released.
41	* GeniusLoci: The music video for "Destroy Everything You Touch" depicts some snowy mountains with the band member's living faces on them.
42	* GenreMashup: They're sort of synthpop-dreampop-shoegaze-new-wave-industrial-rock, if we're taking their oeuvre as a whole.
43	* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''Best of 00-10'', which is also a very good introduction to their music (especially the deluxe edition with 33 songs).
44	* MultinationalTeam: Helen is Scottish, Mira is Bulgarian, Daniel is English and Reuben is also English and is of Chinese descent.
45	* MsFanservice: The cover of their compilation album ''Softcore Jukebox'' (which as a whole is a ShoutOut to Music/RoxyMusic's ''Music/CountryLife'') has Mira Aroyo in a two-piece bikini and Helen Marnie in a swimsuit.
46	* LastNoteNightmare: "Soft Power".
47	* LighterAndSofter: ''Gravity the Seducer'' is lighter than ''Velocifero''.
48	* LongRunnerLineUp: A Type 2 + Type 3 example from 2000 to 2023:
49	** Type 2 as their first single "He Took Her to a Movie" was recorded with a guest vocalist. The band at the time was only Hunt and Wu as they hadn't met Marnie or Aroyo yet.
50	** Type 3 due to the six year hiatus between touring ''Gravity the Seducer'' and recording ''Ladytron''.
51	* NewSoundAlbum: Starting with ''Witching Hour'', the group has effectively switched up their sound with each album, whereas the first two were generally in the same style. While ''Witching Hour'', ''Velocifero'', and ''Gravity the Seducer'' are all still SynthPop, they're all different interpretations of it. ''Witching Hour'' is their rockier album, with influences from {{Shoegazing}} and DreamPop, and ''Velocifero'' is essentially a heavily electronic {{New Wave\|Music}} album. ''Gravity the Seducer'', on the other hand, is more of a {{baroque\|Pop}} DreamPop, with a bit of a cinematic flare. Their self-titled album is considered to be a combination of the three previous albums.
52	* NonSequitur: "Blue Jeans" actually makes more sense if you ignore the namesake phrase, which appears interspersed through the song seemingly with no rhyme nor reason, in which case the song appears to be about a love affair that has ended. (One exception to this appears to be the part about how "Blue jeans won't cut at the seams / Like you want them to", implying that relationships not working out like one expects them to is compared to blue jeans.)[[note]]Think of it like "[[Music/RevolverBeatlesAlbum And Your Bird Can Sing]]" by Music/TheBeatles, in which if you ignore the lines that start with "and your bird is..." the song is understood to be a pretty straightforward condemnation of pride and materialism.[[/note]]
53	* ObsessionSong: "Burning Up" has the narrator telling someone "I wrote a protest song about you, about you" and from then on things escalate until they tell the other person "I set myself on fire without you, without you."
54	* OdeToYouth: "Seventeen" is a dark example of this, as it is about how "they only want you when you're seventeen", and that "when you're twenty-one, you're no fun."
55	* OopNorth: Although Aroyo is of Bulgarian origins and Marnie hails from Scotland, Wu and Hunt were both born and raised in Liverpool.
56	* PrecisionFStrike: "Tomorrow is Another Day"
57	--> "I never asked you all the fucking things I wanted to
58	--> But tomorrow is another day"
59	* RecordProducer: They always produced their own albums and were helped by other producers.
60	* RedOniBlueOni: Marnie and Aroyo could be easily described as such, with songs sung by Marnie usually being more passionate, refering to romantic themes, and her delivery being accordingly quite breathy (red); while songs sung by Aroyo come off as more aloof and collected, refering to non-romantic themes, and her delivery being deep, ranging on the monotone (blue).
61	* RavenHairIvorySkin: Helen Marnie fulfilled this role during the 00s. This became downplayed when she went brunette during the ''Gravity the Seducer'' era and then averted by ''Ladytron'' when she dons grey hair.
62	* ShoutOut: The band's name derives from a Music/RoxyMusic song of the same name.
63	* SingingSimlish: They recorded four songs especially for The Sims 3 soundtrack: "Young Etruscians", "She Stepped Out of the Car", "Rockfalls & Estuaries", "Tesla".
64	* SingleStanzaSong: "Seventeen" consists only of the following stanza (which is repeated several times, also making it a case of LoopedLyrics):
65	-->''They only want you when you're seventeen,\
66	When you're twenty-one, you're no fun.\
67	They take a Polaroid and let you go\
68	Say they'll let you know, so come on.''
69	* SopranoAndGravel: A version of this; Marnie's voice is very airy, and relatively high, which is in stark contrast to Aroyo's deep, stern vocals.
70	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: "Versus" is a duet between Marnie and Hunt, making it the first Ladytron song with male lead vocals. Hunt also sang backing vocals on "International Dateline".
71	* SurrealMusicVideo: The music videos for "White Elephant", "Tomorrow", and "Destroy Everything You Touch".
72	* SynthPop: With influences from {{New Wave\|Music}}, {{Shoegazing}}, DreamPop, IndustrialRock, and PostPunk.
73	* TheSmartGuy:
74	** Reuben trained in Industrial Design at Sheffield Hallam University. Also he can play violin and he's an accomplished photographer.
75	** Mira has a [=PhD=] in genetics at the University of Oxford.
76	** Helen has a BA in pop music at Liverpool University.
77	* TitledAfterTheSong: The band was named after a 1972 Music/RoxyMusic song. Music/BrianEno himself is a fan of Ladytron.
78	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: While the band early on wore matching clothes, once they started to dress more diversely, this dynamic emerged between Marnie and Aroyo (especially on music videos), with Marnie usually wearing femenine dresses while Aroyo would choose items like trousers or newsboy caps. Even during the time they both wore BoyishShortHair, Marnie's hairstyle veered towards TwentiesBobHaircut, while Aroyo was even shorter.
79	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Possibly the case with the subject of "Destroy Everything You Touch". It seems to be about a person who [[NeverBeHurtAgain has been badly hurt before so deliberately sabotages their own relationships and everything else they engage in.]]

Context Music / Ladytron