If you're looking for more of the danceable rock for which Beth Ditto and (formerly, The) Gossip made their name, we'll stop you right now. There's little on the new A Joyful Noise akin to some of the more bruising tracks on the band's last release, 2009's Rick Rubin-produced Music for Men, like the barn burner "8th Wonder" or "Dimestore Diamond", or even the funky "Love and Let Love". 

Still, in its own frothier pop way, the new record has a lot going for it, not least the sparkling "Move in the Right Direction", which looks poised to take its place alongside "Heavy Cross" as one of Gossip's biggest and best singles. This is a decided turn in a dancefloor direction, from lead single "Perfect World" to "Involved" a driving synth track that recalls "She Works Hard for the Money" (RIP Donna)--more Little Boots than Le Tigre. It puts Ditto decidedly in the wheelhouse of Robyn, Kylie, and yes, Madonna, who is particularly channeled on the sweet and sentimental "Casualties of War" and especially on the stomper "Get a Job", which could easily be a track on MDNA. 

The one bone tossed in the rock direction here is on the opener "Melody Emergency", while elsewhere Ditto again echoes outsider themes, on "Love in a Foreign Place" and "Get Lost" on which she's "dancing to the beat of a different drum". As are, it's safe to say, many Gossip fans, though it's a slightly more familiar synth drum this time around. 

Gossip play a record release part tonight at New York's Terminal 5, where a massive disco ball hangs aptly from the rafters. If you can't make it there, at least make it to A Joyful Noise, the latest from Gossip.