Ladytron//Ghosts [Modwheelmood Remix]

I heard this song on Sirius on the way to work last week and was confused, since it seemed to me at the time that there was no way it could actually be Ladytron, despite what the little digital readout said. The lyrics were too good; the arrangement too sparse.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a torrid love affair with Ladytron when I was about 18. But this was the stuff of drugged-out Eurotrashy 80s nightclubs; big electro beats with vapid lyrics about being too old to have a successful modeling career—lyrics that sounded like they were rooted in ESL, whether they were or not. Both 604 and Light and Magic had the air of pleasure, but it was definitely a little guilty.

I realized that part of the reason this song is genuinely so good is that the production and arrangement styles have shifted from the original effort as a result of a remix by Modwheelmood, an outfit with ties to Nine Inch Nails and Abandoned Pools. This version is more spacious, with wider sounds asserting themselves in the mix, and most importantly, with improved dynamic shift that highlights the emotional hook—the choral lyric. This is all very sexy and almost makes me want to get the new Ladytron album, although I’d probably be more interested in the next Ladytron album completely remixed by Modwheelmood. Seriously, when’s that side project happening?



Ghosts.mp3 [Modwheelmood Remix]

There’s a ghost in me who wants to say,
I’m sorry;
Doesn’t mean I’m sorry.