"On this record she revels in a sense of freedom, something much more expansive than was displayed in any of her previous work. For fans who thought she might never eclipse her Banshee and Creature highlights, this has been received with the form of rapture only reserved for the iconic. For those who have only dipped into her previous work, prepare to have any preconceptions shattered. And, most thrillingly, for a whole new generation of listeners, a slew of delights and surprises lies in store on what is surely one of the albums of 2007.

"Mantaray" is remarkable on many fronts, not least that all 8 tracks show an artist at the absolute peak of her powers. Musically it moves between the industrial heavy rhythms of the single "Into A Swan", through the modern glam stomp of "It's About To Happen" into the complex freeform playfulness of "Drone Zone", and the electronic, relentlessly hypnotic "Sea Of Tranquility", both of which could be the soundtrack for a David Lynch film…this is music like nothing else around right now. 

Lyrically too the album shows Siouxsie in a less veiled light. It might be too trite to say this is the sound of the Ice Queen melting, but the statement has some validity. For a generation whose teenage years were spent in a liberating rush of idealised alienation, something had to give long ago. And just as Siouxsie was never truly the Ice Queen, this album shows her searching for a sense of her place in the world. It's altogether a more human, humane record than she has ever made, and all the better for it – the themes of the songs might encompass disappointment, distrust and despair, but they are bound together by a warmth of spirit that would have been anathema to the Siouxsie of 1978 but which is a true picture of this iconic artist in 2007."

Don't forget to listen to the clips on the player !

Order the Special Edition Album HERE

or the regular version for a fiver HERE