La Roux (album)

La Roux
Studio album by La Roux
Released 26 June 2009
Recorded
Genre Synthpop
Length 44:31
Label Polydor
Producer
  • Ben Hirst
  • Elly Jackson
  • Ben Langmaid
La Roux chronology

La Roux
(2009)		 Sidetracked
(2010)
Singles from La Roux
  1. "Quicksand"
    Released: 26 December 2008
  2. "In for the Kill"
    Released: 16 March 2009
  3. "Bulletproof"
    Released: 22 June 2009
  4. "I'm Not Your Toy"
    Released: 28 September 2009

La Roux is the debut studio album by English synthpop duo La Roux, released on 26 June 2009 by Polydor Records. The album peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. It includes the hit singles "In for the Kill" and "Bulletproof", which reached numbers two and one on the UK Singles Chart, respectively.

The album was nominated for the 2009 Mercury Prize,[1] and won Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on 13 February 2011.[2] A ten-track Gold Edition of the album was released digitally in the United States on 8 February 2011, including the Kanye West-featuring version of "In for the Kill".[3][4]

Singles

"Quicksand" was released as the album's lead single on 15 December 2008, originally reaching number 153 on the UK Singles Chart.[5] The song was re-released on 23 November 2009 and rose to a new peak position of number 129 on the UK chart.[6]

"In for the Kill" was released as the album's second single on 16 March 2009. The song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks,[7] while reaching the top fifteen in Ireland and Norway, the top forty in Australia and the top fifty in Belgium.[8][9]

"Bulletproof" was released as the album's third single on 22 June 2009. The single debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming La Roux's first chart-topper.[10] The track reached number three in Austria, number five in Australia, Belgium and Ireland, number seven in New Zealand and number thirteen in Germany.[8][11] "Bulletproof" also became the duo's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, peaking at number eight.[12]

"I'm Not Your Toy" was released as the album's fourth and final single on 28 September 2009. Speaking to The Guardian on 22 July 2009, Jackson explained that the duo chose to release the single in the summer because she "think[s] sunny weather drives you towards certain tempos and melodies that work well booming out of open windows", adding that the song "has a brightness that wouldn't work in winter."[13] It peaked at number twenty-seven on the UK Singles Chart.[14]

On 15 July 2010, Jackson uploaded a behind-the-scenes preview of the music video for "Tigerlily" on YouTube discussing its theme.[15] However, neither the single nor the video ever materialised.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 76/100[16]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [17]
BBC Music positive[18]
Clash 8/10[19]
The Guardian [20]
The Independent mixed[21]
NME 9/10[22]
Pitchfork Media 7.0/10[23]
Rolling Stone [24]
Slant Magazine [25]
The Times [26]

La Roux received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[16] The Guardian‍ '​s Alexis Petridis wrote that "[t]he sound is authentically tinny, bass being something that most synthpop pioneers seemed to think the gleaming 'Music Of The Future' could do without. The rhythms tend to a clipped, funkless boom-crash that listeners of a certain vintage may find difficult to hear without picturing a school disco dancefloor packed with fourth-formers trying to 'do' robotics."[20] Steve Harris of Clash referred to the album as "[t]he ultimate expression of '80s love" and stated that "apart from a couple of later tracks, the album is far from filler and still delivers blow after blow of superb songcraft."[19] Luke Turner of the NME raved that "with this astounding debut, an unassuming 21-year-old from SW2 has revitalised a forgotten form to make one of the finest forward-thinking British pop albums of recent memory."[22] Heather Phares wrote for AllMusic that "La Roux's dedication to their aesthetic makes this an album where the songs are variations on a theme, and on the rare occasion where the songwriting isn't razor-sharp, the style threatens to overtake the substance. However, that devotion also makes La Roux a standout, not just among the many other '80s revivalists, but the entire late-2000s pop landscape."[17]

Slant Magazine reviewer Paul Schrodt described La Roux's sound as "frosty, uniquely British, deliberately affected, and anything but casual", but added that "it's the band's attempts at vulnerability ('Cover My Eyes') that make for the most insipid listens."[25] Pitchfork Media's Joshua Love noted that "La Roux delivers icy but irresistible throwback pop that hearkens back explicitly to fellow femme-led Brits Yazoo and the Eurythmics."[23] Talia Kraines from BBC Music wrote, "That shrill vocal might mean the self titled debut album is not something you're likely to listen to all in one go in a high pressure situation, but it's one jam-packed with killer pop song after killer pop song."[18] Peter Paphides of The Times remarked that "[f]or the almost militant purity of its execution though, La Roux inspires a peculiar sort of awe. Exclusively using keyboards is one thing, but the Brixton-based duo have gone a step further, purging their sound of any keyboard noise that bears even a passing resemblance to what your Jeremy Clarkson sort of music fan would refer to as a 'real' instrument."[26] Rolling Stone‍ '​s Rob Sheffield commented that "[a]long with co-writer and fellow synth dude Ben Langmaid, she's ruling U.K. radio with splashy dance hits about sex and betrayal", naming "Bulletproof" the album's "definitive gem".[24] Simon Price was critical of the album in his review for The Independent, stating that "[m]uch of the time, La Roux sound strangely distorted, like the backing music from an early 1990s Sega Mega Drive game turned up to 11."[21]

Commercial performance

La Roux debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart on sales of 62,650 copies,[27] becoming the third fastest-selling debut album of 2009 in the United Kingdom after Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream and Florence and the Machine's Lungs, respectively.[28][29][30] The album was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 12 February 2010.[31] By July 2014, La Roux had sold 416,667 copies in the UK.[32]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid, except where noted. 

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "In for the Kill"    4:08
2. "Tigerlily"  
  • Jackson
  • Langmaid
  • Darren Berry
 3:24
3. "Quicksand"    3:05
4. "Bulletproof"    3:25
5. "Colourless Colour"  
  • Jackson
  • Ben Hirst
 3:30
6. "I'm Not Your Toy"    3:18
7. "Cover My Eyes"    4:32
8. "As If by Magic"    3:51
9. "Fascination"    3:41
10. "Reflections Are Protection"    4:19
11. "Armour Love"  
  • Jackson
  • Langmaid
  • Berry
 3:53
12. "Growing Pains" (bonus track)
  • Jackson
  • Langmaid
  • Jeff Patterson
 3:27

Gold Edition

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "In for the Kill" (featuring Kanye West)  4:41
2. "Finally My Saviour"    4:19
3. "Under My Thumb"  
 3:46
4. "I'm Not Your Toy" (Jack Beats Remix)  5:37
5. "In for the Kill" (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix)  5:02
6. "Quicksand" (Boy 8 Bit Remix)  5:56
7. "Bulletproof" (Zinc Remix)  5:49
8. "Tigerlily" (Demo)
  • Jackson
  • Langmaid
  • Berry
 3:49
9. "Bulletproof" (Intimate Session at Abbey Road, Acoustic)  3:01
10. "In for the Kill" (Vevo Lounge Version)  3:28

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of La Roux.[41]

  • Elly Jackson – vocals, production
  • Ben Langmaid – production
  • Alexander Brown – art direction, design, photography
  • Dan Carey – mixing (track 3)
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4–12)
  • John Hanes – mix engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4–12)
  • Ben Hirst – production (track 5)
  • Kit Jackson – spoken word (track 2)
  • London Community Gospel Choir – backing vocals (track 7)
  • Hannah Neaves – art direction, design
  • Tim Roberts – assistant mix engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4–12)
  • Ian Sherwin – engineering (tracks 2, 5, 7–12)
  • Traffic – art direction, design
  • Andy Whitton – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2009–10) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[42] 22
Australian Dance Albums Chart[43] 3
Austrian Albums Chart[44] 34
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[45] 34
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[46] 95
Canadian Albums Chart[47] 34
Croatian International Albums Chart[48] 23
Dutch Albums Chart[49] 55
European Top 100 Albums[50] 13
French Albums Chart[51] 115
German Albums Chart[52] 54
Irish Albums Chart[53] 7
Italian Albums Chart[54] 95
New Zealand Albums Chart[55] 26
Norwegian Albums Chart[56] 36
Swiss Albums Chart[57] 54
UK Albums Chart[58] 2
US Billboard 200[59] 70
US Dance/Electronic Albums[60] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Position
Australian Albums Chart[61] 67
Australian Dance Albums Chart[62] 11
Chart (2010) Position
Australian Dance Albums Chart[63] 39
US Dance/Electronic Albums[64] 4

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[65] Gold 35,000^
Ireland (IRMA)[66] Platinum 15,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[31] Platinum 416,667[32]

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Label
Belgium[67] 26 June 2009 Universal
Germany[68]
Netherlands[69]
Poland[70]
Ireland[71] Polydor
United Kingdom[72] 29 June 2009
France[73] Universal
Sweden[74]
Australia[75] 3 July 2009
Canada[76] 28 July 2009
Japan[39] 5 August 2009
United States[77] 29 September 2009
Italy[78] 16 October 2009 Universal

References

  1. ↑ Swash, Rosie (21 July 2009). "Mercury prize 2009 nominations announced". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "Grammys 2011 Winners". The New York Times. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "La Roux : Releases : The Golden Edition". Interscope Records. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  4. ↑ "La Roux Announce The Digital Release of the Gold Edition". Cherrytree Records. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  5. ↑ Balls, David (10 September 2009). "La Roux 'won't re-release Quicksand single'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Chart Log UK – Chart Coverage and Record Sales 2009". The Zobbel Website. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Jones, Alan (11 May 2009). "Dylan and Stryder keep number one slots". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Discography La Roux". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "La Roux – In For The Kill" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Sexton, Paul (29 June 2009). "Michael Jackson Dominates U.K. Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "La Roux – In For The Kill" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "La Roux – Chart history: The Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  13. ↑ Rogers, Jude (22 July 2009). "What makes a great summer pop hit?". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  14. ↑ "La Roux". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  15. ↑ Copsey, Robert (15 July 2010). "La Roux announce new single, video news". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "La Roux – La Roux". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Phares, Heather. "La Roux – La Roux – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Kraines, Talia (22 June 2009). "Review of La Roux – La Roux". BBC Music. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Harris, Steve (10 June 2009). "La Roux – La Roux". Clash. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Petrides, Alexis (26 June 2009). "La Roux: La Roux". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
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  29. ↑ Michaels, Sean (30 November 2009). "Susan Boyle reaches No 1 with record-breaking debut album". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  30. ↑ Levine, Nick (12 July 2009). "Jackson holds Florence off albums top spot". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "British album certifications – La Roux – La Roux". British Phonographic Industry. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2014. Enter La Roux in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
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