CAPITOL

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Worthy trip

Emotional lyrics mix with
great dance beats

"Odyssey" Fischerspooner (Capitol)

On ITS sophomore album, the New York City art-dance duo of Warren Fischer, left, and Casey Spooner has done a near 180-degree turn with their music as Fischerspooner.

While the duo's debut "#1" was buoyed by the hit club single "Emerge," the majority of its songs were minimalist electroclash at best, letting the beats do most of the talking.

With the remarkable "Odyssey," however, the guys take it to the next phase, adroitly mixing the songwriting and emotion of previous acts such as the Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode with great dance beats. The deepening of the Fischerspooner sound is due in part to the additional participation of preeminent hit songwriter Linda Perry, Madonna producer Mirwais, and David Byrne, who penned the lyrics of the last-minute addition "Get Confused."

Even the literary intelligentsia get into the act. The late Susan Sontag wrote the lyrics to "We Need a War," which lays bare the banality of reasons countries like the United States work their bully pulpits with a show of supposed arms strength. And culture critic and art theorist Dave Hickey pens the liner notes for "Odyssey."

The music is both retro and future-looking at the same time, best illustrated by the lead-off video/single "Just Let Go," with lyrics "the body lunges forward ... defeating time." Other examples are the street-savvy "Wednesday" and "Everything to Gain," a splendid electro tip-of-the-hat to Depeche Mode. "A Kick In the Teeth," with its sparkly synth pulses, also shows how much Fischerspooner has grown musically.

Even though all the songs are club-ready, "Odyssey" takes a more dreamy and contemplative feel in its latter half. But "Happy," "Ritz 107" and "All We Are" are just the set-ups for the explosive finale "Circle (Vision Creation New Sun)," with its audacious use of sonic colors.

Evocative lyrics and uncanny use of beats make this trip courtesy of Fischerspooner and friends a memorable one.