Nicolas Ladoux returns as IKKo with Cheerleader, a five-track release that continues his exploration of neo-industrial electronics through a distinctly European lens.
Ladoux absorbs post-punk spirit into contemporary industrial frameworks
Nicolas Ladoux returns as IKKo with Cheerleader, a five-track release that continues his exploration of neo-industrial electronics through a distinctly European lens. EBM traditions underpin the record, but these tracks never settle into simple nostalgia. Instead, Ladoux navigates shifting moods with a restrained confidence, allowing atmosphere and physicality to coexist.
His voice is rarely treated as a conventional lead. Rather, it functions as another instrument of intent, communicating through cadence, tone and tension as much as words. Across the release, the emotional palette is painted in shades of silver, black and white, balancing mechanical precision with flashes of vulnerability.
The production remains taut throughout. Pumping low-end bass rolls beneath surges of white noise, while drums land with the hard, disciplined impact of Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb-inspired rhythms. Fleeting acid figures bubble into view before dissolving back into the machinery, adding movement without distracting from the record’s industrial core.
Closing duties fall to Velvet Underwear, whose remix drives the material further towards brutalist architecture, amplifying its weight and severity while preserving the original’s sense of disciplined restraint. Throughout Cheerleader, echoes of John Lydon‘s Public Image Ltd. emerge in the stark vocal phrasing and confrontational minimalism, yet Ladoux never slips into imitation. Instead, he absorbs that post-punk spirit into a contemporary industrial framework, resulting in a focused, stylish statement that understands the enduring power of tension over excess.
Cheerleader is available on Roulette Rekordz. [Bandcamp]
