电子淑女

Ladytron are a British electronic band formed in Liverpool in 1999. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), and Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals). Reuben Wu (synthesizers) was a member from 1999 until 2023. They have released eight studio albums to date: 604 (2001), Light & Magic (2002), Witching Hour (2005), Velocifero (2008), Gravity the Seducer (2011), Ladytron (2019), Time's Arrow (2023) and Paradises (2026). They also issued the live album Live at London Astoria 16.07.08 in 2009, and the compilation album Best of 00–10 in 2011. They have produced remixes for a diverse list of artists, such as Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan, Erasure, Goldfrapp, Apoptygma Berzerk, Placebo, Blondie, Gang of Four, Christina Aguilera, Nine Inch Nails, Bloc Party, Kings of Convenience and Soulwax.

The band's name was taken from the song "Ladytron" by Roxy Music. Former Roxy Music member Brian Eno said in 2009, "Ladytron are, for me, the best of English pop music. They're the kind of band that really only appears in England, with this funny mixture of eccentric art-school dicking around and dressing up, with a full awareness of what's happening everywhere musically, which is kind of knitted together and woven into something quite new." Ladytron described their sound as "electronic pop", while music journalists have also described their sound as synth-pop, electronic rock, among other genres. Some of the group's songs contain lyrics written by Aroyo in her native Bulgarian.

History

Band formation and debut single

Liverpudlian producers and DJs Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu met in the 1990s. Hunt was a member of the bands Venini and Jules Verne and also founded the indie record label Invicta Hi-Fi and a nightclub. Wu trained in industrial design at Sheffield Hallam University and graduated in 1997. He became an industrial designer at Team Consulting Limited, until finally going full-time with the band around 2002.

Using a moniker inspired by the song "Ladytron" by Roxy Music, Hunt and Wu recorded the debut single "He Took Her to a Movie" for £50 with the guest vocalist Lisa Eriksson (who later formed the band Techno Squirrels) and released it in July 1999.

In the summer of 1999, Hunt and Wu met Scottish student Helen Marnie through various DJ gigs, and Bulgarian-Israeli Mira Aroyo through a mutual friend. Marnie and Aroyo joined the band as vocalists and keyboardists. Helen Marnie studied music at the University of Liverpool where she received a Bachelor of Arts in pop music in 1999. Mira Aroyo was a postgraduate research geneticist in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford.

First EPs and 604 (1999–2001)

During 1999 and 2001 Ladytron released the EPs Miss Black and Her Friends in December 1999 exclusively in Japan, Commodore Rock in June 2000, Mu-Tron EP in October 2000 and the singles "Play Girl / Commodore Rock" in 2000, "Playgirl" in 2000 and again in 2001, "The Way That I Found You" in 2001. All the songs (except "Miss Black", "Olivetti Jerk" and the remixes) from these releases were later included on their debut studio album. "He Took Her to a Movie", Mu-Tron EP, "The Way That I Found You", were all selected as NME "Single of the Week".