In the corner of a room, lit only by the flecks of a disco light, hang the bloodthirsty shoes that Sophie Ellis-Bextor previously wore for her 2001 hit, Murder on the Dancefloor. On Wanderlust, her fifth album, disco is now definitely deceased. Gone are the chart-ready refrains; in their place are dramatic strings, the odd harpsichord and SEB's misty-eyed meanderings. Runaway Daydreamer and The Deer and the Wolf veer into twee danger zones . Elsewhere, especially on Young Blood, her icy voice forgives those blunders. Love Is a Camera is a hectic slice of vaudevillian fun, whereas Cry to the Beat of the Band brilliantly carries an air of foreboding gloom. Wanderlust's sound is not unlike the Norwegian folk/pop band Katzenjammer and, as a breakaway from her usual dancefloor dalliances, Sophie chose wisely. sophieellisbextor.net
Download: Cry to the Beat of the Band