Readers of a certain age may remember Billie Ray Martin as the voice behind Electribe 101 and the dance anthem ‘Your Loving Arms’. Her latest project The Opiates sees the German chanteuse with the languorous voice collaborate with Norwegian producer Robert Solheim. And she’s chosen an appropriate name: this EP is atmospheric, moody and decadent with an air of arty Germanic bleakness.

The softly sung lyrics are ultra-grim, telling tales of traumatised women who aren’t really ‘there’ any more - anaesthetised by money and drugs but emotionally dead. It reminds me of hotel rooms after fashion shows: eating disorders, track-marks, self-harm… the Nico of the rave generation has returned.

Opener ‘Anatomy of a Plastic Girl’ sets the tone, its downbeat lyrics accompanied by a series of retro synth-pop swooshes, clicks, squelches and beeps. ‘You can’t say I’m not human’ protests some poor pretty piece of meat; while the line “I’m miserable under the pretty shell” is a perfect summation of the EP’s lyrical preoccupations. The downtempo feel is an indication that the band started off as an ambient project.

‘Oprah’s Book of the Month Club (pt2)’ tells the story of a little girl lost, lavished with everything except love and attention. “Mamma was beautiful, a mountain of fake hair that would sometimes peak through the bedroom door”. Soon our protagonist is going wild on drink and drugs and “selling her roller-skates for an abortion”. And an escape to Hollywood only ends in tears…

Dark and dangerous, this is a stealth-bomb of a record with a tranced-out charm of its own. But be warned: it’s a grower, and it may first appear to be dull, dated electro-pop. Stick with it…

Ben Wood