Ejecta – Dominae

Joel Ford (Tigercity / Ford + Lopatin) joins vocalist Leanne Macomber of Neon Indian for an album of unabashedly retro synth-pop which manages to combine the studied, edgy cool of Ford's more experimental work as producer for Autre Ne Veut and Oneohtrix Point Never with a melodic sensibility which draws on a rich vein of chanteuse-fronted pop music, from Jane Birkin to Eurythmics and Cocteau Twins.

From the Chromatics-esque organs and synths of opener Mistress, to the glacial, yearning pop of It's Only Love, to the propulsive cinematics of Afraid of the Dark, Macomber's melancholic lyrics provide a ceaselessly inventive counterpoint to Ford's nostalgic, deceptively complex arrangements. The stripped electro-house of Jeremiah (The Denier) is all the more powerful for its minimalism – a song that the majority of producers would have made irrelevant with stadium bombast and over-clocked sub bass becomes a fragile, soaring thing with FX-drenched guitar and layered, glittering synth lines. Unashamedly retro, undeniably inventive. [Bram E. Gieben]