The Projects - A Million Crimson Roses

I totally love this single. It's been out over the Atlantic for a while now but we've snagged a few copies. The main point of interest here is that Mira from Ladytron has joined this long serving London collective (they were once called Miss Mend back in the 90s!) as vocalist (not that Th' Tron are about to split up, god forbid!) The A side is a cover of a song by Alla Pugacheva, a well loved Russian superstar, and this version has the most delightful wibbling, bloopy analogue keyboard & these ghostly eerie guitars propping up what is essentially an astral ballad. It really makes the hairs on my neck totally stand to attention! Mira is just perfect for the part here, her exotic, spectral Eastern European vocals being of paramount importance to maintaining the whole magical vibe of the song. Really, if this was a brand new single i'd be gunning for SOTW on this! The flip is more brief & upbeat - a dashing sprint through a latin-flavoured whirring indie garage tune. I've no idea if it's a cover or an original but it's wonderful fun & compliments the other side beautifully. A pan-European exercise in thoroughly good taste. I heartily recommend this little beaut!