True Paradise: Ladytron is looking for Paradise, Chris Norman remembers the past

In the first month of spring, we are all drawn to the beautiful — that's why, apparently, the most notable records of March turned out to be uplifting and even in places passing into the stage of almost teenage romance (despite the fact that they were recorded by people of quite a respectable age). Izvestia — about the most interesting March music albums that you might have forgotten to listen to.

Ladytron

Paradises

The Liverpool synthesizer quartet, named after the Roxy Music song, found itself at the forefront of the then-fashionable electroclash in the early 2000s, but successfully survived the imminent departure of the style invented by journalists. Their music has always combined a cold synthetic texture with a melancholic pop melody and almost literary imagery. Over the years, Ladytron has gone through several stylistic turns, from the minimalist electronica of early albums to the more atmospheric and cinematic sound of later works, while remaining one of the most recognizable bands of their generation.

The new album Paradises (in Russian, "Paradise" will be released somewhat clumsily, but you can probably also "Paradises"), the eighth studio work of the band, continues this evolution. The album came out more danceable in spirit than several previous releases, it's practically a "return to the roots" — the sound of the band's breakthrough debut album "604". At the same time, the cold romance characteristic of Ladytron has not disappeared anywhere: compositions like I Believe in You, Kingdom Undersea or I See Red are based on dense synthesizer lines, pulsating rhythm and detached, almost hypnotic vocals. Perhaps the only complaint is that it's a bit long—winded, and six of the almost 72-minute songs could definitely have been released on B-sides.

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Chris Norman

Lifelines

The former Smokie vocalist, whose songs about Alice and "vodka I'll find" have become almost popular in Russia since Soviet times (despite the foreign-language lyrics), has returned to active studio work in recent years. Having once played with new wave and even with Eurodisco (everyone remembers his album with Dieter Bohlen), he continued to develop the same line — melodic, sincere and a little sentimental pop-rock.

On the new album, Norman turns to other people's songs that mark different milestones in his own life. The track list includes one unforgettable (alas) new song of his own composition, plus covers of hits by the Bee Gees, Tom Petty, The Hollies, Robert Palmer, Smokie themselves, and several unexpected ones in the context (and, by the way, perhaps the most successful in the embodiment) Snow Patrol and R.E.M. Well, another one The Midnight Lady version is much better without it.

Kim Gordon

Play Me

72-year—old Kim Gordon is a mythological and even, let's not be afraid to say, godlike figure for the alternative scene. The co-founder of Sonic Youth, an artist, writer and one of the key characters of New York avant-garde rock, she has remained a symbol of independent musical culture for decades. In her solo career, Gordon unexpectedly shifted from guitar know-wave to a rhythmically oriented sound — influenced by trip hop, industrial electronics and even trap. On her third solo album, she continues her collaboration with producer Justin Reisen and develops the direction outlined on the previous album, The Collective.

Kim's new work is a concise, dense, and intentionally straightforward album built around rhythm and Gordon's dry, almost recitative-like vocals. Tracks like Not Today or Subcon combine industrial textures with a heavy hip-hop beat, creating a feeling of cold urban pulsation. In her lyrics, the singer reacts to modernity — from digital culture and streaming algorithms to the power of technocrats and worries about artificial intelligence. However, she does this in a manner not of a political manifesto, but of quite artistic post-irony: sarcasm, absurdity and fragmentary images turn the album into a kind of collage of news headlines and personal observations.

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Dominique Fils-Aimé

My World Is The Sun

Dominique Fils-Aime is one of the most original singers of the modern Canadian scene. The Montreal native builds her own musical universe at the intersection of soul, jazz and gospel, while always avoiding strict genre boundaries. The trilogy of albums Nameless, Stay Tuned brought her wide fame! and Three Little Words, dedicated to the history of African American music and the struggle for civil rights. Fils-Aime attracted the attention of critics with her soft, almost velvety singing style and perfectionist attitude to phrasing, with precisely calibrated pauses.

The album My World Is The Sun continues this line, but it sounds more light and open. It has less retrospect and more of a sense of personal space, as if the singer is shifting her gaze from history to her own inner world. The arrangements remain minimalistic: soft keys, delicate rhythm section and almost chamber vocal delivery. Fils-Aime sings calmly, without overexpression, but it is this restraint that makes the songs especially soulful.

Moon Far Away

Acou

Since the late 1990s, the Arkhangelsk group has been consistently exploring the space between folklore tradition, meditative electronics and atmospheric dark culture. Their music often draws on northern mythology, ancient song forms, and church melodies, but it does so without the museum dryness: Moon Far Away's compositions always sound like a lively dialogue between the past and the present. Over the years, the band experimented with industrial textures and ritual rhythms, but the desire for a special, almost mystical chamber sound remained unchanged.

Acou seems to deliberately abandon scale and immerse the listener in the intimate space of acoustics. There is almost no dense atmosphere familiar to the band here — instead, guitars, muffled percussion and voices sound like they were recorded in an abandoned hut somewhere in the north. This minimalism works surprisingly expressively: each melody unfolds gradually, like an old song passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation.