Velocifero is the fourth album from Liverpool's electro darlings Ladytron, produced in Paris with Vicarious Bliss (Ed Banger Records) and Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails) at the controls.

Building on the dreamy layered synthscapes of 2005's Witching Hour, Velocifero is a glorious album, fusing dance-driven beats with the sweet/bitter/sweet vocals of Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo.

Stand out tracks include 'Ghosts', the first single from the album, with its addictive chorus line, while the wonderful 'Burning Up' wallows in a reverbed haze of female harmonies and cacophonous electronics, 'Deep Blue' simply shimmers and 'Versus' brings the album to a close with its chic tapestry of melody, poetic lyrics and additional male vocal line.

Ladytron draw on the pioneering forefathers of the eighties synth revolution, but somehow they sound as fresh and contemporary as any band in existence. Naturally and elegantly cool, their music provides the backdrop to the digital age and it is no coincidence that it is frequently used by TV and advertising production companies. Thankfully, chart success seems inconsequential to a band that tour relentlessly and are slowly learning how to best project their studio dynamic to a live audience. Last year’s addition of 'Send Me a Postcard' (Shocking Blue - 1969) to their live set shows that they have the potential to up the tempo and classics such as 'Playgirl', 'Seventeen' and 'Sugar' still captivate.

From a design perspective, the striking sleeve to Velocifero has been designed by the Assume Vivid Astro Focus collective (www.cheapcream.com) and combines a riot of colour, band iconography and classy print production to be absolutely 'of the moment'. The promo shots are fantastic too and postcards given out at the band’s Astoria show in May are beautiful.

Everything you need to know is featured on Ladyrton's Myspace site which they used extensively to promote the album by making all of the tracks available months before Velocifero was actually released. Free downloads are distributed to the mailing list and lots of other news and goodies are fired out on a regular basis.