Release Date Jul 07, 2009
1. In For The Kill
2. Tigerlily
3. Quicksand
4. Bulletproof
5. Colourless Colour
6. I'm Not Your Toy
7. Cover My Eyes
8. As If By Magic
9. Fascination
10. Reflections Are Protection
11. Armour Love
12. Growing Pains
La Roux is a electropop synth duo band made up of singer Elly Jackson, and synth player/co-writer/co-producer Ben Langmaid. They have already received much success in the UK with two of their singles "In For The Kill" and "Bulletproof" both reaching the Top 2 on the Charts. The debut album has just made it's way to the states with the help of Cherrytree Records. If you like what you hear below then I recommend getting/checking out the album, it's great! Enjoy!
It took just over six months for La Roux to go from issuing their first single on Kitsune to topping the U.K. charts. That's a swift rise -- one that was years in the making, of course -- but after hearing their self-titled debut, it's easy ... Full Descriptionto understand their sudden fame: La Roux's take on '80s synth pop is as unique as it is familiar. Their inspirations, which include Blancmange and the Eurythmics, might be decades old and well-known, but the originals' spare coldness can still sound weird, and La Roux shows just how committed they are to that chilly oddness and catchiness. They use only the brittlest drums and tinniest synths on these songs--if anything, it feels like La Roux's gear is more limited than the original group's were. They even have the proper synth pop lineup: La Roux is a duo (though singer Elly Jackson gets most of the limelight). However, their devotion transcends kitsch, even if Jackson's asymmetrical copper wedge of a hairdo suggests otherwise. Yet La Roux aren't purists. "Tigerlily"'s tough-girl stance mixes 8-bit arpeggios with a creepy, "Thriller"-style spoken word bridge, and "Reflections Are Protection"'s bass and synths nod to electro. While style is a large part of La Roux's substance, it never feels slick, and that's due to Jackson's voice as much as it is the group's intentionally stiff sounds--in fact, it's the way that her vocals interact with those sounds that makes these songs so dynamic. Jackson can be shrill and almost synthetic-sounding when she hits high notes, especially on the breakout hit "In for the Kill," but her lower register--which she uses beautifully on "Colourless Colour"--is throaty and very human. Her characters are either running toward or away from desperate love affairs, but like other skilled popsmiths, La Roux know how to give pain a sweet and shiny veneer. Nowhere is this clearer than on "Quicksand," which uses a relentlessly tight arrangement and Jackson's frosty soulfulness to give the song's obsession a shot of excitement. And though the chart-topping "Bulletproof" is feisty and "As If by Magic" is wistful, both songs use wishes and daydreams as armor against further heartache. La Roux's dedication to their aesthetic makes this an album where the songs are variations on a theme. That devotion also makes La Roux a standout, not just among the many other '80s revivalists, but the entire late-2000s pop landscape.
Highly anticipated 2009 debut album from Elly Jackson (AKA La Roux), who has everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Daft Punk hailing her as a talent to watch. This self-titled album 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. Ranging from the high crystal-clean falsettos of `Fascination' to the brooding lulls of ballad `Cover My Eyes' (that features London Community Gospel Choir), the breadth of the album and La Roux's diversity is clear. For Elly and co-producer/ writer Ben Langmaid, La Roux has never been about producing disposable dancefloor fodder. Since meeting four years ago the talented duo's goal was clear - they wanted to bring classic songwriting back into the clubs and charts, and with this album they've accomplished that and far more.Rolling Stone (p.78) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Jackson and Langmaid are not coy about their 1980s New Wave inspiration....But that just fives them an extra jolt of glam arrogance."
Spin (p.80) - "[I]f there's a pop record this year more swaggeringly punk than `Bulletproof,' bring it on."
《Clash》雜誌在封面上以"The Girls Of 2009"之題目，來為Florence And The Machine和La Roux這兩個音樂單位做了一個小專題。
毋庸置疑，La Roux是當今英國樂壇上的炙手可熱Electro-Pop名字，繼冠軍單曲〈Bulletproof〉之後，其首張同名專輯《La Roux》亦在排行榜上取得亞軍的成績。
作為「2009年女生」，從La Roux的唱片封套到音樂錄像到所有宣傳工作，我們看到都只有Elly Jackson這位女生，不求甚解的人便會直指La Roux即等於Elly Jackson吧。
但其實La Roux並非Elly Jackson的代名詞，也不是她的一人樂團，因為陣中還有她的音樂拍檔Ben Langmaid，所以正確來說La Roux是一隊二人組合。然而站出來現身出鏡的，則從來就只有Elly一人而已。情況就像Goldfrapp其實是Alison Goldfrapp和Will Gregory的二人組，但Will在多年來乃堅守低調成員的角色般，所以大家所見到的就只有Alison吧。
La Roux的同名專輯《La Roux》，所聽到也不是純粹的Electro-Pop來。
去年12月，La Roux在法國獨立電音廠牌Kitsuné Music旗下發表了處女單曲〈Quicksand〉，隨即受到主流公司Polydor之青睞。加上今年3月他們為Lilly Allen的英國巡演擔任暖場演出，La Roux之名氣亦不徑而走。
才只有十九歲的型格女生Elly Jackson，她那一頭有如《櫻桃小丸子》裡之闊少爺花輪同學的浮誇髮型，正是她的標記。時而又配上濃濃的化妝，其形象正一如La Roux的Electro-Pop音樂般，來得甚有80年代的靡爛色彩。
作為新一代型格女歌手的Elly，亦聲言這是要講求形象的Glamour回歸年代，她說雖然她不是特別喜歡大紅人Lady Gaga，但卻認為Lady Gaga是帶動了Glamour的復興與強調視覺配套的藝人。而Elly最崇拜的流行巨星，是「黑馬王子」Prince而非Michael Jackson。
民歌到電子流行樂
La Roux是一支Electro-Pop組合，然而有趣地Elly的音樂根源卻是Folk。Bob Dylan、Joni Mitchell、Carole King和Nick Drake都是她的喜愛。
Elly說：「我的同學們都喜歡The Futureheads和Maximo Park等Indie-Rock樂隊，我有他們的專輯，而他們是Okay的但我卻從沒有真正愛上過他們。」給她最大衝擊，是多年前遇上80年代的電子流行樂。
所以縱使起初她與Ben合作，玩的仍是Acoustic-Based的歌曲。然而隨著Elly蒲派對時接觸到一眾80年代音樂，加上受到Chromeo、 Sebastian Tellier等向80年代電子音樂取經的新一代音樂單位之感染，於是她問Ben：「我們可以不用結他嗎？」從而那亦奠定了La Roux的Electro-Pop路線。
雖然，The Human League、Eurythmics、Yazoo等80年代Synth-Pop名團，都是La Roux背後的音樂影響，但在其Electro-Pop曲風下，Elly所用上依然是很民歌歌手的溫婉演繹方法，甚至大家可以在YouTube上找到 Elly抱著木結他以民歌手法演繹出La Roux的作品(但切勿胡亂扣上甚麼Folktronica之帽子)，這是他們與當今的眾多Electro-Pop音樂單位之一大分別。
經過〈Quicksand〉、〈In for the Kill〉(由Skream主理的Dubstep版亦超棒)和〈Bulletproof〉這三首醒神單曲後，La Roux之首張同名專輯《La Roux》亦緊接面世。
一如所料，在《La Roux》內在Elly情感豐富演繹下，乃滿是琴音鏗鏘如流水行雲、情懷青春無敵的美好Electro-Pop歌曲。〈As If By Magic〉的溫暖電子曲風像Yazoo與早年Depeche Mode嗎？〈I'm Not Your Toy〉這類Upbeat的歌曲亦80's Pop到不得了。
而心碎而溫婉之作〈Cover My Eyes〉，以及愛意綿綿的Synth-Ballad之作〈Armour Love〉，更是美得沒話說的動人Electro-Pop小品。
因為Elly的民歌背境，La Roux的Electro-Pop聽來也是多麼的富有濃郁的雋永人情味。
Posted by letmekiss
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