La Roux - 'La Roux' (Polydor) 29/06/09

As June rolls into July we are reaching the crux of the January hype fest. Little Boots has already dropped her poptastic album to positive reviews and soon Florence and her Machine will open her ‘Lungs’ on the British public. However both of those highly tipped girls have so far been eclipsed by one Ellie Jackson, the 23 year old girl from Brixton who (along with Ben Langmaid) goes under the name La Roux. Where Little Boots is making music for twelve year olds to devise bedroom dance routines to and Florence is lost in her own upper middle class bohemia La Roux is making cool clean pop that the British public have gone wild for.  ‘In For The Kill’ has sold near half a million copies and the Skream remix has perfectly summed up the twin musical trends of 2009 with it’s dubstep reinterpretation of the 80’s pop stomper. Initially ignored by Radio 1 for being too tinny the broadcasting giant was forced to back peddle with red cheeks when ‘In For The Kill stormed to number two, only kept from the top spot by Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz.

It is this track which commences the self titled album, kick-starting a rollercoaster of androgynous glamour and rain on the window heartbreak. The initial reaction to hearing La Roux is that it seems steely and cold, it can feel like you’ve, to quote ‘Tigerlily’, “put your face in the gutter of a snake pit”. From her idiosyncratic quiff to the unique voice there seems to be little in the way of softness to Jackson so it is alarming at how easily the metallic casing she wraps herself in is deconstructed, allowing the soft innards to pour out.  See, Ellie Jackson has had her heart broken and ‘La Roux’ charts the on-off relationship a million pillow-cryers can relate to, it’s an ode to “How could they do this? Why do I feel so ill? With the omniscient relationship hovering over the record we investigate the seduction (‘Tigerlily’), the “Where is this relationship going?” (‘Quicksand’), the sex (‘In For The Kill’), the break-up (I’m Not Your Toy’) and the struggle to move on (‘Cover My Eyes’)with each song giving the listener and almost voyeuristic insight into a young girls life. ‘La Roux’s brilliance lies in the intricacies and thought that has gone into each moment of yearning, as you listen deeper to each repeat listen that tinny screech becomes a damaged cry that you can’t help but fall for.

Talk what you will of critics tips, 80’s throwbacks and Sgt. June Ackland- all you need to know about La Roux is that she’s made one of the most open and intimate records of the year and it’s as danceable as it is brave.