La Roux

La Roux emerged in London in 2008—a few years after the electroclash era, but before the arrival of hyperpop. It was a transitional era for dance music and few acts were as well-equipped to break out as La Roux, who managed to bridge the gap between the electronic-indie scene and the mainstream (it’s telling the duo was initially signed to Maison Kitsuné, the French label that was previously home to acts such as Hot Chip and Klaxons). Consisting of singer Elly Jackson and producer Ben Langmaid, the group had initially made acoustic music as Automan before reanointing themselves La Roux—a reference to Jackson’s red hair and a nod to her androgynous presentation: The name is a combination of the French words for red-headed man (“le roux”) and red-headed woman (“la rousse”). Not long after shifting to electronic music, La Roux broke through with an incredibly tight run of first singles—“Quicksand”, “In for the Kill” and “Bulletproof”—that were a a testament to what Jackson and Langmaid were capable of doing. Their success was aided by remixes of “In for the Kill” from dubstep legends Skream and Skrillex, which helped La Roux reach the underground clubs as well as the pop mainstream. Those singles set up high expectations for La Roux’s self-titled 2009 debut—an album that managed to meet the hype, earning a nomination for the Mercury Prize and winning a Grammy. <i>La Roux</i> is a dense, hyper-saturated affair, with spiky synth songs that feature the glitchy, chaotic and colourful intensity of arcade game soundtracks. It’s all cut through with Jackson’s fluid, formidable voice, which sometimes takes the form of a flying, siren-like falsetto, and sometimes sounds choppy and bratty, like proto Charli XCX. Lyrically, these are songs about the thrills and pitfalls of romantic obsession—“Oh, when you turn to me/I’m in the quicksand”—as well as about craving excitement and lust in a relationship, in spite of a desire to be “bulletproof”. La Roux’s debut holds up as a record of catchy and vibrant synth-pop songs that are robotic, yet somehow still teeming with feeling.