The harsh, spoken vocals of Bulgarian vixen Mira Aroyo mirror the emotive lobotomy of Neil Tennant, while sugarspun double Helen Marnie wanders as if trapped within the audio beat-box prison of stylised hand claps, space zaps and synth-jazz - courtesy of Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu.

Their new follow-up album 'Light & Magic' draws back the curtains to shed a little light on the many tributaries that float the Ladytron boat. This is a fascinating exercise in music-by-numbers that only now, as the marketing gimmick that was Electroclash is worn down to a blunt stub, can we fully appreciate the web in which they sit.

Current single 'Seventeen' mirrors the catchy and immediate pop sensibilities of their previous singles 'Playgirl', 'Paco' and 'He Took Her To A Movie', taking the framework of verse-chorus-repeat supported by a thumping, staccato heartbeat in this cynical metaphor of ceiling age groups and mid-20s crises.

It's a pliable formula that might have come from the back-bedrooms of Glaswegian punk-pop outfit Bis, the white melamine interior of Air's moonbase hideway, or (God forbid), could just as easily be dumbed down by a BPM or two to suit the timeline hijacking of sample cannibals, The Sugarbabes. Back, back I say!

Instrumental tracks are too often used as padding, but the grandiose 'Turn It On' filters the very essence of the band's audio beam of pure carbon, splitting it into a divergent sum of parts. The vocoder chorus traces a direct link to core Electro and the likes of Newtrament, while it's but a blob of solder to make a connection with early Hip-Hop stylings.

We spoke to Helen about recording the new album in Manchester and Hollywood, and what the Ladytron clan are listening to right now...

Click here for part two.