La Roux - Supervision

The Guardian 80

(Supercolour Records)
Her second release as a solo artist sees 1980s pop muted though Elly Jackson’s idiosyncratic and unique sound palette

When La Roux came to prominence in the late-00s with two shrill synthpop smashes – Bulletproof and In for the Kill – the duo were frequently discussed in terms of their nostalgia value. With their tinny, falsetto-driven, slightly wobbly electro – not to mention vocalist Elly Jackson’s gravity-defying quiff – it did seem a bit like the band were indulging in some 1980s new wave cosplay. Yet, funnily enough, those two tracks now feel headily redolent of the era they were made in. Not just thanks to their ubiquitous popularity, but because they chimed with the direction pop was taking at that time, being of a piece both with Lady Gaga’s dead-eyed, big-chorused anthems and the honking electro practised by indie acts such as MGMT and Empire of the Sun.