Crystal World

I looked into this album when it first came out. The Hunter was great, but the track samples available on Amazon seemed uninspiring. So I passed. Then yesterday, while watching The Hunter video again, I noticed some rascal posted all the tracks of Crystal World on YouTube. So I had a listen and was immediately hooked. The album's been on heavy rotation since, and it's incredible. Reviewing every track would be tedious for the reader, but here are some highlights: 'Laura' is stunning. Easily the most heart-wrenching and intimate-sounding song Helen Marnie has performed. 'Submariner' is haunting and just beautiful. It builds to a sublime climax. Really excellent. 'The Wind Breezes On' is a great, catchy little ditty. 'Violet Affair' is a fun, 60s-inspired song--a bit like Witching Hour's 'Last One Standing' 'Hearts on Fire' has a White Gold-meets-All the Way feel to it. Subdued percussion and simple melody augment Marnie's vocals perfectly. Really nice. The album artwork and Amazon samples don't do this album justice. Both give the impression that the album's a sterile, mechanical, electronic bore. Really, it's has a largely warm and understated sound with a few tracks, like 'We Are the Sea', leaning more toward harder electronica. Marnie's vocals definitely shine throughout. If they're still posted, I recommend checking out the tracks posted on YouTube before purchasing. Or buy 'Laura' and 'Mariner' to see if the rest are worth buying. Thanks for reading!

A SWEEEEET album with much clearer vocals than her work in Ladytron (which is stylistically SIMILAR but NOT the same) which gives you a greater appreciation for Helen's voice and lyrical work. The entire album is solid but there is one stand out track: SUBMARINER. Helen put on her Pink Floyd boots and stomps your heart right out your back with this 7 minute 38 second soul crushing, heart breaker of a song.

Was a massive fan of Ladytron and I have all their music. The influences of Ladytron are evident and as a fan of Ladytron I am not disappointed. It showcases the potential of Helen on her own and is a solid initial effort, although maybe not the path that she wants to stay on. I agree with others who found some exceptional songs on a non-cohesive album. For those songs (like Hunter, Hearts of Fire and I would say We are the Sea), I think it is worthwhile giving her a 5 star for her first effort. Now, she has to produce a more cohesive album start to finish and go tackle a little deeper material to continue to get this kind of rating.

I'm a big fan of Ladytron and was excited to see Helen Marnie release her first solo album during her band's hiatus. I'd listened to a few songs on Youtube prior to purchasing and knew I would like this, but until giving the entire thing several listens I didn't realize just HOW MUCH I liked this album. It is a little mellower overall than the typical Ladytron sound, but no less absorbing. The 80's electronic style is still apparent and Helen's voice still grabs your attention with its utter uniqueness. This is an album that I play from start to finish and don't consider skipping a track. I love it.

I was really missing LADYTRON so this was as close as I could get, I suppose, given the band seems to have disbanded or is at least in an extended hiatus. Marnie is the lead vocalist in LADYTRON and this solo effort surprised me being as good as it is. A lot of times, solo efforts are not very exciting. Although this is a bit more poppy and less brainy than the band's efforts and has a couple of dumb "I'll always love you" type songs, the electronics are done well enough where you can forgive the weak lyrics. Overall a good effort but I hope the band will get back together soon.

I have this record on repeat! I cannot get enough of it. Marnies minty vocals are in perfect unison with moody synth backgrounds, eerie ladytron-esque keyboards and driving 80's (sometimes 60's) beats. fabulous.

I love it! Have been a Ladytron fan for years. I can listen to this album on repeat for 10 hours at a time and it is relaxing and beautiful.

Helen Marnie has completely blown me away with this debut solo album. Every song is good and this is one of the best albums of 2013 by far. I love this !! Thank you Helen! I'm hooked.

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Cette fois-ci séparée (mais pas trop) du groupe Ladytron dont elle est issue, Marnie tend à nous offrir des chansons inédites aux sonorités presque similaires à celles du groupe. Sa volonté de dépeindre son propre monde et son talent font de cet album une réussite dans sa carrière solo.

Da ich alle Alben von Ladytron habe war es natürlich selbstverständlich, das ich mir auch sofort Crystal world, das offizielle Solo Album von Helen Marnie, der Leadsängerin von Ladytron, zulegen musste. Und, nunja,ich muss sagen das sich das Album eigentlich nicht groß von den Ladytron Alben unterscheidet. Wer die poppigeren aber auch etwas melancholischeren Songs von Witching Hour, velocifero und Gravity the Seducer liebt, der wird dieses Album auch lieben !! Und das wichtigste: Man kann Crystal world wirklich durchhören, ohne auf die skip Taste drücken zu müssen....Wie mein Vorgänger auch schon geschrieben hat, gibt es eigentlich keinen einzigen Song, der nicht irgendwie etwas schönes hat....ich kann mir das album an einem Zug anhören und freue mich immer auf den nächsten Song ohne dem vorherigen hinterhertrauern zu müssen. Hier eine kleine Kurzvorstellung für jedes einzelne Lied : THE HUNTER: Ein sehr eingängiger und flotter Opener, der übrigens auch ein wirklich schönes Musikvideo zu bieten hat. Das Lied ist zu 100 Prozent Retro und wäre warscheinlich in den 80 ger jahren rauf und runter gespielt worden. Einer der besten Retrosongs die ich je gehört habe,Punkt ! WE ARE THE SEA: Hat einen sehr schwungvollen schönen und aussergewöhnlichen Refrain. In diesem Lied beschreibt Helen ja ihre Liebe bzw. Verbindung zum Meer, und ich finde das dies durch die euphorische Atmosphäre des Songs sehr gut transportiert wird. HEARTS ON FIRE: Hat einfach eine tolle und wunderschöne Atmosphäre, der Refrain kommt sehr hymnisch rüber und ist ist schon beim ersten Mal Hören fest im Kopf verankert. Hearts on Fire erinnert mich von der Stimmung und der Meldodie her etwas an Tomorrow vom Velocifero Album. VIOLET AFFAIR: Könnte auch ein Song aus den 70 ger Jahren sein, erinnert mich ein klein wenig an Abba. Es ist insgesamt das fröhlichste und optimischste Lied auf dm Album und hat eine sehr sommerliche und warme Atmosphäre. THE WIND BREEZES ON: Eines der düsteren Songs auf Crystal World,hat aber auch wieder en sehr eingängige Melodie und ist auch sehr schön und elektronisch. SUGARLAND: Eines meiner absoluten Lieblingssongs auf dem Album. Es ist das energiegeladenste Lied und könnte auch auf Velocifero erschienen sein. Die Stimmung von Sugarland ist einfach super, es ist einerseits fröhlich und vorantreibend und andererseits hat es es irgendwie etwas....bedrohliches düsteres ! Der kurze Gitarrenpart des Songs ist übrigens auch einfach nur geil !!! HIGH ROAD: Ein schönes poppiges und eingängies Retro Lied, das wie auch schon the Hunter in den 80 gern warscheinlich ein Hit geworden wäre. LAURA: Wow! was für einer wunderschöne geheimmnisvolle und melancholische klingende Ballade !!! Mit Sicherheit der melancholischste Song auf dem Album, aber gleichzeitig auch einer der schönsten. Gänsehautfaktor ! SUBMARINER: Ist sehr spährisch und verträumt und hat eine absolut genialen Instrumentalteil am Schluß des Songs, der sich immer mehr aufbaut und einem einfach nur zum Träumen einlädt ! GOLD: Wieder eine sehr melancholisch wirkende Ballade,mit Piano Begleitung und Violinen ein sehr untypischer Song aber auch wieder schön und sehr gut als Abklang geeignet. Also insgesamt hat Helen da sehr gute Arbeit geleistet, echt schön das es noch so tolle Musik ausserhalb des chart Einheitsbreis gibt....danke Helen :))

This solo project album is a delight to the ears…a perfect addition to fans of Ladytron!!!

First of all I must congratulate the delightful Marnie (aka Helen Marnie from the magnificent Ladytron) on accomplishing such a fantastic debut solo album. I for one absolutely love it...I've just played it twice right through and when I got to the end I still wanted to hear more. And there aren't many current albums I can say that about! Being a fan of electronica I don't have a lot to rave over these days(Karl Bartos, OMD and Pet Shop Boys new albums apart) so 'Crystal World' is a more than welcome arrival. Opener 'The Hunter' sets the mood straight away and is typically catchy yet somehow melancholic...perhaps we could call this melantronica? 'Hearts On Fire' is in a similar vein though Track 4 'Violet Affair' has a kind of 60s/70s beat. Two tracks later we have 'Sugarland' with its wonderfully 'wonky synth' vibe running through it, followed by 'High Road', which to my ears sounds like a John Barry film-score at times despite being lyrically inferior to the majority of tracks. 'Laura' is cloaked in a much darker veil, though still manages to feature seaside organ sounding synths. Brace yourselves now though as Track 9 is the impossible to put down 'Submariner' which is a bright and breezy up tempo number (with added melancholy for good measure). What sets it apart however is the utterly brilliant synth melody that makes its entry at the beginning only to reappear in all its glory to completely take over the final three and a half minutes...clearly Marnie and her cohorts loved it as much as I do and didn't want it to stop! Then we have the final offering 'Gold'...quite simply a beautifully orchestrated song with a piano and synths providing a perfect backdrop for that Marnie voice to truly shine...oh! and it's all wrapped up by a lovely little melancholic synth outro. Can't wait for the next one!