By Peter Quincy Ng
The year 2009 has been the year for female indie-pop songstresses such as Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Little Boots and Natasha Khan from Bat for Lashes– just to name a few. Although virtually unknown in North America at the moment, it should come as little surprise how vocalist Elly Jackson, one half of electropop outfit La Roux, has been topping charts in her native UK. With her eccentric, futurist style, signature quaffed red hair and at times oddball makeup.
La Roux brings a Bowiesque vibe that gushes with the feel of the 1980’s. Quicksand, the first track off her eponymous self-titled debut is a perfect example of the aesthetic that is La Roux. The video, complete with silhouetted dancers dancing over a rather campy tropical background, as well as its gratuitous use of animal-print clothing, echoes something from an American Apparel ad. Seemingly fitting for a video set in a very fictional tropical paradise with extremely oversized drinks and a ruby sunset, La Roux’s powerful voice is accompanied by uplifting synths and a steady marimba beat. Despite the quality production of Quicksand, it failed to reach mainstream success under French label Kitsuné.
Shortly after, Polydor picked up La Roux and with the release of “In for the Kill”, another rather campy video with set in a futurist car chase of some sort with the laser fields and such, helped skyrocket La Roux to the top of British charts. The bone-shattering bass of “In for the Kill” is accompanied by the powerful shrill of Elly’s heavily accentuated vocals. By the release time of the staccato heavy single “Bulletproof” Elly Jackson had already become a name in British pop, touring with Lily Allen and even headlining a tour with the New Musical Express. The La Roux formula can be seen all over her self-titled debut release. Catchy hooks, simple sing-along lyrics and bone-shattering bass accompanied by La Roux’s strong vocals that hit high on the vocal register are just some of the pros that are featured in each of La Roux’s songs. “Cover My Eyes” is a beautifully haunting song that echoes “When I see you walking with her I have to cover my eyes” a song that most likely was inspired by La Roux’s five year rocky on-and-off relationship.
Similarly, track closer “Armour Love”, a slow and melodic ballad is a fine display of La Roux’s vocal gymnastics. Despite the undeniably catchy and incredibly infectious tunes, the weakness of the album is the poor contrast in song melody. Oddly enough each track seems to have its pairing partner. “In For the Kill” and “Tigerlily” has the riveting bass; “Quicksand” and “I’m Not Your Toy” with the marimba beat; “Bulletproof” and “Colourless Colour” with the heavily accented and staccato beat are just the some of the many tracks that seem to use the same backing beats. “Fascination” a track that originally appeared as a demo also makes its appearance on the album, which unfortunately is so loud that it actually smothers Elly’s vocals, which on the surface may not seem entirely feasible.
On the one hand we have “Reflections are Protections” which is completly dulled by the rather energetic remainder of the album. While Elly is too soon to kick off her North American tour time will tell whether she is one of those “Popular in Britain” acts. Nevertheless, the rather unconventional red-haired Elly Jackson became an unlikely success in her native Britain and certainly is proof that the pop market is constantly changing.