In Brief

You could imagine Brian Molko’s voice blaring from a loudspeaker in “1984” or “Brave New World,” a detached, disembodied tone whose authority and contempt that would make “The Weakest Link” disciplinarian Anne Robinson wither. When he sings “haemoglobin is what you need for a healthy heartbeat’--haemoglobin, not love--it’s as clinical as it is cynical.

The music that Molko, multi-instrumentalist Stefan Olsdal and drummer Steve Hewitt make on their third album is just as steely, glam without glitter that’s evolved from its David Bowie-T. Rex-via-Smiths roots into a dense swirl comparable to such fellow London-based acts as the Catherine Wheel and Radiohead.

Yet Molko’s not projecting a dystopian future. He’s dissecting dystopias past and present. “Haemoglobin,” in fact, is essentially “Strange Fruit” as told by the lynched man. His take on love on “Taste in Men” (‘I’m killing time on Valentine’s Day / Waiting for the day to end”) is nearly as cold. Elsewhere, he further probes racial division, duets on a bonus track with Bowie and duels with his own former drug demons (‘Special K,” ’Narcoleptic”).

Affected? He admits it himself in “Blue American,” offering, “I’m so pretentious, yes it’s true.” But the humanity (if not warmth) of Molko’s observations is more relevant to the world of 2001 than many of the sci-fi fantasies it evokes. Placebo headlines the Palace on May 15. *

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are due in stores Tuesday.