''Velocifero'' is the fourth studio album by English

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

band

Ladytron Ladytron are an 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 ...

and their first to be released by

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

. The album was first released digitally on 19 May 2008, followed by a physical release on 2 June in the United Kingdom and on 3 June elsewhere. ''Velocifero'' peaked at number 75 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, becoming the band's second highest-charting album to date in the UK (after ''

Gravity the Seducer ''Gravity the Seducer'' is the fifth studio album by English electronic music band Ladytron, released on 12 September 2011 by Nettwerk. Recorded in Kent, England, the album has been described as "haunted, evocative, romantic", and having "a fem ...

'' reached number 72 in 2011). It was also their first album to chart on the US ''Billboard'' 200, reaching number 131. ''Velocifero'' spawned three singles: "Ghosts", "Runaway" and "Tomorrow".

Background

According to band member

Reuben Wu Reuben Wu (born 6 September 1975) is a British artist, photographer, and musician. He is also known as a founding member of the electronic band Ladytron. Biography Reuben Wu was born in Liverpool in 1975, the son of Hongkonger immigrants. He ...

, "velocifero" literally means "bringer of speed", and is also the name of a classic retro-styled scooter. "Black Cat" and "Kletva" are both sung entirely in Bulgarian. "Kletva" (which means "oath") is a cover of a song from a solo album by Kiril Marichkov of Bulgarian rock band Shturtzite.

Daniel Hunt Daniel Hunt is an English musician, songwriter and producer. He is a founding member, principal songwriter and producer of the electronic band Ladytron. Biography Hunt met Reuben Wu in Liverpool in 1995 and formed Ladytron with him in 1999, ...

provided additional vocals on "Versus".

Singles

"Ghosts" was released as the album's lead single on 12 May 2008. It reached number 106 on the UK singles chart. The song was included on the soundtrack to the video games '' Need for Speed: Undercover'', '' The Sims 2: Apartment Life'' (''Apartment Life'' featured the song as an instrumental version; both in 2008) ''

The Sims 3 ''The Sims 3'' is a 2009 social simulation video game developed by the Redwood Shores studio of Maxis, and published by Electronic Arts. Part of ''The Sims'' series, it is the sequel to ''The Sims 2''. It was released on June 2, 2009, for Micros ...

'' (2009) and ''

LittleBigPlanet 2 ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' is a 2011 puzzle-platform video game developed by Media Molecule and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. The second main instalment in the ''LittleBigPlanet'' series and the third overall, it is ...

'' (2011), as well as on the soundtrack to the 2009 slasher film ''

Sorority Row ''Sorority Row'' is a 2009 American slasher film directed by Stewart Hendler and written by Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger. It is a remake of the 1982 film '' The House on Sorority Row'', and stars Briana Evigan, Leah Pipes, Rumer Willis, ...

''. The track was also used in the TV advert for the 2010

Jameson Dublin International Film Festival The Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF; ) is an annual film festival that has been held in Dublin, Ireland, since 2003. History The Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003. It was revived by Michael Dwyer, internationa ...

. A remix of "Ghosts" by New York

alternative rap Alternative hip-hop (also known as alternative rap and experimental hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip-hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip-hop group ...

collective Blestenation was released as a free download on 22 August 2008 by RCRD LBL.

Critical reception

''Velocifero'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 73, based on 26 reviews.

Track listing

''Velocifero (Remixed & Rare)''

On 6 April 2010,

released a compilation of remixes, B-sides and rarities titled ''Velocifero (Remixed & Rare)''. The cover is the based on the black and white stripes artwork of the single "Runaway".

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Velocifero''.

Musicians

– additional vocals (uncredited) * Semay Wu – cello * Slic – drums * Somekong (Peter Salmang and Javier Benitez) – additional musicians

Technical

– production * Michael Patterson – mixing * Vicarious Bliss – additional production *

Alessandro Cortini Alessandro Cortini (born 24 May 1976) is an Italian musician best known for his work with the American industrial band Nine Inch Nails. He plays modular synthesizers, keyboards, guitar, and bass guitar. Cortini is the first Italian inducted ...

– additional production * Erwan "Eq" Quinio – engineering * Daniel Woodward – engineering * Alex Hasson – engineering assistance

Artwork

* Stéphane Gallois – photography * Assume Vivid Astro Focus – design * Pipa – design

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Ladytron albums Nettwerk Records albums