Planningtorock - W

If this strange, serious record is any kind of indicator, an hour in Janine Rostron’s company wouldn’t be your number one LOL picnic. ‘W’ wails and broods, and staggers under the weight of the world, each burst of vocal a bubble from an open wound. It’s heavy and dense, erecting forbidding synth structures and howling the blues straight into your inner ear. Songs lurch from the industrial to the cold-technological. Yes, this strange, serious record is one of the best albums you’re likely to hear this year.

She’s one of ours, Rostron, if we want her to be. Straight out of Bolton, in fact – but now based in Berlin where history and cultural legacy can infuse these songs; and they certainly do. For most of the way, ‘W’ has the pace of David Bowie’s glacial side two of ‘Low’, and the electronic grandeur too. Rostron – Planningtorock – has come a long way since 2006 debut ‘Have It All’, signing to DFA and finding new and thrilling ways to experiment with what she’s got. Next to the looming rockfaces of Eno/Bowie-esque synths, the other startling element of this album is her voice, and the way she twists, turns and varispeeds it to jarring, disorientating effect, bringing man, woman, alien to the table. It’s a weapon of dislocation but each trick manages to carry emotional force – listen to the thick, bluesy holler on ‘I Am Your Man’ promising “I am your man, my friend/And I’m just the right man for you” and you’ll believe she is; the cover of Arthur Russell’s country-electro ballad ‘Janine’ (imagine Rostron’s glee at choosing that) is delivered with warped globs of pain that a straight rendition couldn’t conjure.

If all that sounds like a recipe for a handful of paracetamol, there are lighter moments. Well, less grey moments anyway. ‘Living It Out’ is cracking disco noir, very Hercules And Love Affair and very great, while ‘9’ flirts with the kind of car-horn blare that separated ‘Tainted Love’ from the synth pop masses. ‘I Am Your Man’, again, teeters on the verge of letting rip but is exciting enough anyway with its strained calls and “wah-wah-wah” responses. But light and shade aren’t the point with this brand of majesty. Far better to sink into the opaque tragedy of ‘Milky Blau’ with its heart-stoppingly gorgeous synth strings and sense of impending Armageddon than look for some airy, insubstantial relief. In that sense, ‘W’ stands alongside Gang Gang Dance’s recent ‘Eye Contact’ – two albums that are convinced of the importance of their electronic army of sound, aren’t afraid to display it, and are probably right about it all anyway. Also, two albums that sound a bit like Propaganda. Teutonic, Gothic, um, Germanic.

‘W’ also spirits up memories of Depeche Mode – the churchy chords of ‘The Breaks’; ‘Shake The Disease’ moans on ‘Milky Blau’ – and Hot Chip – the chirruping, layered synths of Black Thunder are pure ‘Chip, only with all dancefloor exhilaration stripped out – and even Fuck Buttons – general proggy portentousness. But comparisons aren’t enough. They don’t prepare you for the encompassing embrace of Rostron’s vision, this synthesized opera of a darkened soul. It’s a laugh a minute.