We Are Science

You have to admire Dot Allison’s commitment. Despite the break up of her ’90s contenders One Dove, a car smash and rows with record company bosses, the Scotswoman still marches on towards acclaim and recognition. We Are Science sees her somewhat disembodied voice set in a world of synthesisers, drum machines and elements of electro dance, working to much effect on tracks like ‘Substance’, ‘You Can Be Replaced’ and the title track, all of which are polished productions replete with hip-hopping riffs and snappy loops.

The atmospheric ‘Performance’, with its swathes of strings, backward tapes and delicious sound-washes, has her in full-on Nico chanteuse mode. ‘Strung Out’ and ‘Lover’ benefit from the more contemporary rock input of David Fridman, although they don’t exactly fit seamlessly with the album as a unit.

Allison takes a break from the lab to give us the acoustic guitar-based ‘Wishing Stone’ to which she effectively adds her own glockenspiel. What’s more, it works. ‘Make It Happen’ sounds like a clumsy collision of Queen and Kraftwerk, and ‘I Think I Love You’ (no, not the Partridge Family hit, silly) is a real chiller despite its uptempo pace. Sadly, her off-hand vocals on ‘Hex’ reduce it to a bit of a filler.

We Are Science probably won’t feature in end-of-year lists, but it’s definitely worth a spin if you’re tired of cliched rock and wish for more melody and lyrical substance on your techno menu.