Smooth contemporary synth-pop both strange and weird…
With the release of her first solo album Crystal World back in 2013, Helen Marnie demonstrated that she was just as adept at operating under her own steam as working within the group dynamic of Ladytron. Keeping to a tried and tested template of solid electronic compositions, the album nonetheless provided Marnie with a fresh canvas to paint on.
Now a new Marnie release is scheduled for release in the form of Strange Words And Weird Wars. In development for the past 2 years, the album features 10 new tracks which take up the story from Crystal World.
Influenced by life, love, loss, politics and all things ’80s pop, Strange Words And Weird Wars has been described as a contemporary pop album with an intelligence and depth.
The first track to surface from the new album was the sublime electronic goodness of ‘Alphabet Block’. An accomplished slice of synth-pop and smooth percussive beats, the new tune was described by Marnie herself as “shoe-gaze electropop”.
‘Lost Maps’ is the latest track to be unveiled from the album and treads a similar path. There’s a muscular crunchy synth bed to the song which is interleaved with layers of electronic effects beneath a confident vocal from Marnie herself. Meanwhile, the promo video takes the idea of being lost and searching for something and transforms it into an intriguing narrative (featuring Marnie in a cameo role).
A further pre-release track ‘Electric Youth’, which is reckoned to be “channeling ’80s mall pop”, drops on 12th May.
The forthcoming release might have some Ladytron fans concerned about future releases from the electropop 4-some, although Marnie has been at pains to insist that more Ladytron is on the way in the future. Meanwhile, the arrival of Strange Words And Weird Wars this summer will keep fans of contemporary synth-pop happy for a while yet.
Strange Words And Weird Wars is released 2nd June 2 2017 on Disco Pinata.
Pre-order the album on iTunes here (http://apple.co/2nHdZh9) and receive ‘Alphabet Block’ and ‘Lost Maps’ immediately and ‘Electric Youth’ on 12th May.
