La Roux: Not Norwegian

So I could have sworn La Roux was Norwegian. Honestly, I’m sure some DJ or other introduced her new track as being by “Norwegian-born La Roux”. And so, as I bopped along to ‘In For the Kill’ I was knowledgably pointing out the very Scandinavian-sounding vowels to people. When someone frowned and asked who La Roux was, I exhaled in exasperation and explained that she was that Norwegian singer whose poster was up all over London. When we drove past said poster, I was all: “See? Her, with the Scandie nose!”

So it came as quite a devastating blow to me to learn that not only is La Roux British, and not Norwegian, she is also not a solo act. Her name is Elly Jackson, and she is one half of La Roux, which is, technically, a band. Or a duo. Whatever. Anyway, the other half of La Roux is songwriter and “co”-producer Ben Langmaid, who apparently “prefers to stay in the background”. (I’m quoting wiki there, by the way, so take it as you will.) How ominous is that? Is he some kind of pop-star maker? Or is he a reclusive genius? Or is he some kind of Quasimodo character who likes to lurk in shadows? Perhaps the Phantom of the Opera analogy would be better here. Yes, I like that one.

Anyway, what can we learn from this, apart from that there’s obviously no such thing as a Scandie nose? Presumably that appearances aren’t everything. Either way, ‘In For the Kill’ is a great track, even though it clearly idolises that decade of awfulness, the 80s. La Roux is a wee bit too much like The Knife for my taste, and they never did very well, but maybe the time is ripe for a new celebration of synths, trebly beats and weird, angular hair and clothes.

– Sophie Carville

 

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