The Scissor Sisters: Night Work

The Scissor Sisters first rose to fame with the 2004 release of 'Scissor Sisters,' an electroclash album which went on to achieve great commercial success. With further refinements to their style with a notable influence from the synthpop aesthetic, the third studio album, 'Night Work,' is the result of a collabaration between the band and the producer Stuart Price.

The Scissor Sisters: Night Work

The album begins with the title track 'Night Work,' telling the possibly autobiographical tale of a night worker in the band's inimitable style which throughout this album combines multiple synthetic elements alongside electric guitars and other reminders of the group's past output. Soon after comes 'Fire With Fire,' the shamelessly repetitive first single of the album.

Following 'Fire With Fire' comes the second track of the album to be released as a single, 'Any Which Way.' This number in particular exemplifies the upbeat style which the band rarely deviates from. An interesting component of this track in particular is the apparent influence from Funk music which is best seen in the basslines during the choruses. The mood of this track contrasts pleasantly with the dark, and verging on fetishistic, 'Harder You Get' which follows it.

An album of highs and lows, 'Skin This Cat' proves to be one of the poorest example of 'popular' music in this reviewers library, memorable but sadly for the wrong reasons. This track appears alongside some of the most phenomenal tracks of the album and indeed the band's entire output: 'Sex And Violence' and 'Invisible Light,' both of which employ a very interesting style of composition, achieved purely through synthetic instrumentation (with exception of the vocal parts). Also of note is 'Something Like This,' a homage to the band's influences, actually going as far as to sample Kraftwerk's 'Radio-Activity' (reviewed here) and Kylie Minogue.

This album, with the omission of some brief slips, is one of the band's most remarkable work and is evidentiary of the way in which electronic compositional styles influenced by previous groups can be applied to popular music.

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