La Roux - La Roux (2009)

Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats, for the show is about to begin. "The red haired one" will now start making electro-pop mean something again. Elly Jackson is 20 years old, and is experiencing all the things girls of that age tend to; heartbreak, frustration, wonderment, invincibility and fragility. But unlike most girls her age, Elly has a staggering ability to channel all these feelings and experiences into wondrous blasts of crystal-clean ear candy that hit the listener with instant resonance. But La Roux (French for "the red haired one") isn’t about disposable dancefloor fodder or meaningless pap--her creative waters are stirred most by the artistry of the original electro chart pioneers like Eurythmics and Depeche Mode, while she grew up strumming along to soul-searching sage’s like Nick Drake and Neil Young, starting points that still ground her today. The result of the gestation period of classic songwriting-meets-synth is a spread of tracks where a timeless electronic utopia and a Noughties’ head-nod danceability is underpinned by a painstaking way with words.

The self-titled LP is a kaleidoscope of emotions, touching on everything from heartbreak to disappointment to invincibility--all in true spine tingling La Roux measures that create an instant resonance. The album contains the singles "Quicksand" and "In For The Kill" and "Bulletproof" still sounding fresh as a daisy, alongside the high crystal-clean falsettos of "Fascination" to the brooding lulls of ballad "Cover My Eyes" (that features London Community Gospel Choir).