The allure of Miss Kittin’s understated French voice has been her trademark since she helped introduce the world to electro-clash many moons ago. Often working with an accomplice, such as The Hacker or Felix Da Housekat, her work has been varied, although mostly erring toward the leftfield. Batbox sees her go completely solo with some varied results.

The album opens strongly with Kitten is High, where haunting lyrics sprinkled with goth references are complimented by a dream-like wailing and a simple yet enchanting beat. The title track moves into the realms of atmospheric techno and the artists accented tongue shines. At this stage, the dark twisted nature of the album becomes apparent and you understand why the artwork on the album is completed by the creator of the Emily the Strange cartoons. The gothic noir is best expressed in the eerie Mightmaker, where atmospheric vocals and heartbeats of pulsating but distorted bass create a foreboding menace.

But the album is not all doom and gloom. Pollution of the Mind is an upbeat techno track that you would expect to hear in a club in Munich, and that might be the problem. While the track has no real faults, it doesn’t really push things forward. It uses the typical structure of a solid techno tune and makes just that but without really differentiating itself from the masses. That is, besides Miss Kitten’s unique voice and what a voice. Besides her deft DJ skills, Miss Kitten’s entire persona including the live PA over her sets has really set her apart from what is a difficult genre to persistently penetrate and obtain regular success.

Playmate of the Century is one of the best tracks on the album with wry and playful lyrics set over a sweet-sounding and accessible techno vibe. The album covers many sub-genres and tangents of techno all the while maintaining a brooding and dark atmosphere which does well to gel the album together, something that her debut album I-Com lacked. It’s an easy album to listen to from beginning to end and one where more is gained and appreciated with every listen.

Without breaking any new ground with her production, Miss Kitten still manages to create a coherent and straight forward album that leaves you with a blissful sense of melancholy. It’s a big city album from a big cat in the techno scene, and would serve well as the soundtrack for a dark super hero in an anime film. However, the real star is Miss Kitten’s voice, which adds that x-factor that many full-length techno-based albums lack. Miss Kitten intimates in mock-French arrogance that “Frenchies do it better”, and who are we to disagree? Solid, but needs a few listens to fully appreciate it.