Moloko - Statues (Japan Edition) (2003)

Statues may surprise Moloko fans pulled in by 2000's Things to Make and Do as this is no cheesy attempt to cash in on the Ibizian success of "Sing It Back" and "The Time is Now". With a voice like a latter day Kate Bush, anything sung by vocalist Roisin Murphy is going to come out sounding like the post-Apocalyptic gospel, and producer Mark Brydon's artistically complex arrangements are like hearing a new beautiful language.

The album begins in a dancefloor-friendly vein with the appropriately titled "Familiar Feeling", but "I Want You", the orchestral "Over and Over" and the somber title track are steeped in a newly grown-up melancholy. However, the mischievousness and electro-soul found in the likes of "100%" and "Cannot Contain This" are always there to bring things back to the party again. --Ruby Tuesday