It has been 20 years since punk band Ladytron released their effervescent and genre-defining hit album Light and Magic in 2002. In commemoration of the 20 year anniversary since the album that sparked their year-long world tour, Ladytron has released a series of never-before-seen footage of live performances and short films recorded during the aforementioned world tour from two decades ago. When discussing why the band decided to release this footage now, and not at the height of their career, band member Daniel Hunt attributed the outdated release to the lack of technological resources available to them at the time. He said that:
“There was little record of how the band was in the flesh at that moment, late 2002. Nobody had phones with cameras, let alone video. It was Ladytron at its most punk. There was still a lot of confusion about what we were. Still is. Going through the archives we found these tapes that our UK label had shot in the first days of the tour, and had been long forgotten about. They capture a unique group when it was just hitting its stride, at the very beginning of a world tour for Light and Magic that would last a whole year.”
The Liverpool UK group continues reliving the success of their career through the rerelease of Light and Magic 20 and the Premiere of a New Short Performance Film for Album and Live Set Opener “True Mathematics, one of the only songs on the album that lead singer Mira Aroyo sang in Bulgarian, her native language. The capacity and courage to sing in a foreign tongue whilst still maintaining and relishing in their own popularity is a trademark of the band’s genuine success. Furthermore, the release of this performance allows both past and modern fans alike the opportunity to see what Ladytron’s performances were like in their prime. This 2 minutes and 20 seconds long clip of Mira Aroyo and co. showcases a glorious blend of electronic punk and hypnotic vocals that captivates the audience completely to present a song that no one could possibly get enough of.
Check out the black and white performance film below, the last of three short films released in celebration of Light and Magic’s 20th anniversary.
Hear band member Daniel Hunt’s thoughts on Ladytron’s self-titled album released in 2019 after an eight-year hiatus in an interview conducted by Mdxwn writer Allison McLellan here.
For more music from Ladytron, listen to Ladytron’s single “Deadzone” from their 2019 self-titled album and Ladytron’s Helen Marnie’s collaboration with Union of Knives on their new song “A Tall Tale.”
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