Ritual Union by Little Dragon

Ritual Union, the third album from Gothenburg's Little Dragon, rolled out in July 2011, first in the Netherlands on Century Media and then through Peacefrog Records over the following week. The Swedish four-piece, Yukimi Nagano on vocals and percussion, Erik Bodin on drums, Fredrik Wallin on bass and Håkan Wirenstrand on keyboards, had been together since 1996, and it shows in how little they need to say to each other.

The sound is electronic pop that moves like trip hop, all rubbery bass, crisp little beats and cool synth washes, with Nagano's voice gliding over the top, sweet and a bit unknowable. The title track, the album's second single, is the hook that pulls you in, a sleek, slinky groove that never breaks a sweat. Reviews were generally warm, Rolling Stone slotted it at number 41 among its 50 best albums of 2011, and Clash put it at 31 on its year-end list.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.