LADYTRON
With VHS or Beta, Sonoio, and DJ Chris Ewen
At: Paradise Rock Club, tonight, 9 p.m. Tickets: $22. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
LADYTRON
With VHS or Beta, Sonoio, and DJ Chris Ewen
At: Paradise Rock Club, tonight, 9 p.m. Tickets: $22. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
Sometimes a band is so emblematic of a particular sound, it’s hard to imagine that group stretching beyond it.
Ladytron was like that, at least at first. Starting with “604,’’ its 2001 debut, the British four-piece was lumped into electroclash, a short-lived movement that extolled the virtues of fashion and frivolity. Its songs were steely and detached, not unlike the indie kids who danced to them. With “He Took Her to a Movie’’ and “Seventeen’’ (off 2002’s “Light and Magic’’), Ladytron gave electroclash some of its defining anthems. The story could have ended there, and most naysayers figured it would.
Maybe that’s why Ladytron’s release earlier this year was so jarring: a best-of retrospective that surveyed 10 years of twists and turns for a band pegged as a flash in the pan. It was also shocking to think Ladytron, which headlines the Paradise Rock Club tonight, had been around so long.
“Imagine how it made us feel. Going through photos, we barely recognized ourselves,’’ says singer and synth-player Mira Aroyo earlier this week from a tour stop in Minneapolis. “We were a little bit shocked with the booklet that went with the [album’s] deluxe edition.’’
“A lot of lost innocence along the way,’’ she adds deadpan, but it’s not clear if she’s smiling on the other end of the phone.
Lasting a decade is a milestone for any band, but Ladytron has done more than survive. It has thrived, darting into new directions with each of its five full-length albums.
The group’s latest release is yet another left turn. “Gravity the Seducer’’ is far more panoramic, concerned more with chord progressions and mood than easy melodies and hooks. The music uncoils, and there’s a newfound willingness to let the songs exhale. A few instrumentals move the action as if you’re meant to ingest “Gravity’’ as a movie, highlighting Ladytron’s cinematic tendencies.
The album isn’t candy-coated or even all that upbeat. “White Elephant,’’ the first single, is a gentle giant, lulling you with its soaring synth strings and romantic overtones. When singer Helen Marnie croons the chorus - “Now, surrender me/ ’Cause we’re walking in our sleep/ And won’t come around’’ - you wonder if Ladytron could have made such a mature album earlier in its career.