Ladytron’s ‘Gravity the Seducer’

This is “our most coher­ent work, in terms of moods and themes,’’ Daniel Hunt of the venerable British electro-pop act La­dytron has said of his group’s fifth album. That’s an under­state­ment. There’s lit­tle variation at play here in an album whose creeping, somber tone re­mains largely stat­ic. Mis­s­ing are hints of the more epic, gui­tar-forward forebod­ing of their album “Witch­ing Hour.’’ “White Ele­phant’’ chases a baroque harpsichord fig­ure over horn synths that spread out and dark­en like spilled ink; it’s a chamber dance with a beautiful ghost bride who turns to tendrils of mist in your embrace. “Mirage’’ is a punchy dark-wave track whose hook hints at pop po­tential and serves as a touch­stone for the mildly repet­itive album. The occa­sion­al live drums, as on the in­stru­mental “Rit­ual,’’ pop out amidst the typically flat, programmed af­fect. Strangely, one of the only songs with­out a human voice here somehow seems the most organ­ic. With La­dytron, the aloofness is the appeal, but sometimes it would be nice to be invited in. (Out today) 

ESSENTIAL “White Ele­phant’ 

Boston Globe