La Roux

For the former Belgian town of La-Roux and other meaning, see Roux (disambiguation).
This article is about the musical act. For their self-titled album, see La Roux (album).
Not to be confused with LaRue, La Rue, or LeRoux (band).
La Roux

La Roux's Elly Jackson performing at Piccadilly Gardens in 2010
Background information
Also known as Automan
Origin London, England
Genres
Years active 2006 (2006)–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website laroux.co.uk
Members Elly Jackson
Past members Ben Langmaid

La Roux (/lɑːˈruː/ lah-ROO) is an English synthpop act formed in 2006 by singer Eleanor "Elly" Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid. Their debut album La Roux (2009) was a critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy Award and producing hit singles such as "In for the Kill" and "Bulletproof". Recording of a follow-up album was marred by unsuccessful collaborations, the cancellation of two planned release dates, and reported conflict between the duo.[1] Langmaid ultimately left the group, and Jackson released a second album, Trouble in Paradise, in 2014, maintaining the former duo's name.

History

2006–10: Beginnings and self-titled album

In 2006, Jackson and Langmaid were introduced by a mutual friend. Their first project was named "Automan" and they wrote largely acoustic music due to Jackson's great admiration of acts like Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell. Her interest later shifted to electronic music,[2] drawing inspiration from acts such as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.[3] The band's name refers to Jackson's red hair and tomboyish appearance, mingling the masculine ("le roux") and feminine ("la rousse") French terms; she has said: "To me, it means 'red-haired one'—and it does, vaguely. It's just a male version of 'red-haired one'".[4]

La Roux's debut single, "Quicksand", was released by French independent record label Kitsuné Music in December 2008.[2] They then signed to Polydor Records in order to release their debut album. La Roux's second single, "In for the Kill", was released on 16 March 2009. Later, two prominent dubstep producers, Skream and Skrillex, created remixes of the track.[5][6] Another remix was made by Lifelike.[7] "In for the Kill" debuted at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart on 22 March 2009, peaking at number two four weeks later. "Bulletproof", later remixed by dubstep producer and DJ Chrispy, was released on 21 June 2009 and debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart.[8] The song was released on 11 August 2009 in the United States and topped the Hot Dance Club Songs chart the week of 17 September. As of 11 June 2010 it had peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and had sold over 2.0 million copies. The band's debut album, La Roux, peaked at 70 on the Billboard 200 and at number four on the Dance/Electronic chart.[9][10] "I'm Not Your Toy", released on 29 September 2009,[11] reached number twenty-seven on the UK chart. On 10 September 2009, Jackson confirmed in an interview with French musical website Hall Musique that "As If by Magic" would be the fifth single to be released from the album,[12] and on 15 July 2010, she uploaded a behind-the-scenes preview of the music video for "Tigerlily" on YouTube discussing its theme.[13] However, neither "As If By Magic" nor "Tigerlily" were ever issued as singles, and the full "Tigerlily" video also remains unreleased.

In order to promote La Roux, the band was the supporting act on Lily Allen's UK tour of March 2009.[14] La Roux headlined the Samsung NME Radar Tour 2009 and played alongside Magistrates and Heartbreak.[15] They were scheduled to perform at the Glastonbury, Reading, Oxegen and Leeds festivals as well as the Scala, Southend Chinnerys and Coventry Kasbah venues.[8][16] In July and August 2009, La Roux toured North America. The eight-city tour included performances at Osheaga Festival, All Points West Music & Arts Festival and Lollapalooza.[17] On 23 July, the group performed on the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[18] The group returned to North America for a seven-date tour in October.[19] The group sold out their two Australian dates within minutes forcing an upgrade in venues.[20] In November, the duo embarked on an eleven-date United Kingdom and Ireland tour.[21] La Roux gained fifth position on the BBC Sound of 2009 poll.[22] The Guardian website featured La Roux on their New Band of the Day column.[23] The Guardian also featured La Roux as one of the "Best New Acts of 2009" in January of that year.[24] The album has been nominated for a Mercury Prize.[25]

Sales of "In for the Kill" spiked 600 percent when Skream's "Let's Get Ravey" remix of the song appeared on the HBO show Entourage in August 2010. Later that month, it was announced that an EP remix has been released in tandem with the November US tour.[26] In October, a second video for the song was released that was shot at New York's landmark Hotel Chelsea. The song was released in the United States 7 October.[27]

2011–2015: Departure of Langmaid and Trouble in Paradise

In February 2011, at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, La Roux won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album for their self-titled debut album. Their single "In for the Kill" was nominated for Best Dance Recording;[28] Jackson wrote on Twitter "This is the happiest I think I've ever been". This contrasts Elly Jackson's previous comments at the 2010 NME Awards, where she lightheartedly stated that the group "rarely wins awards". Ben Langmaid stated in a post-award interview, that the day before the Grammy Awards, the duo were rewarded with a double platinum set of discs from their record company, describing the weekend of the Grammy Awards as "My happiest weekend ever". In 2010, Jackson added vocals to Kanye West's platinum-selling album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was released on 22 November 2010.[29][30] Jackson contributed vocals to West's debut album with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne, on the track "That's My Bitch". The album was released on 9 August 2011.[31][32] In addition to her appearance on Kanye West's album in 2010, Jackson performed on Chromeo's third album Business Casual, providing chorus vocals for the track "Hot Mess".[33]

La Roux were scheduled to start writing material for their second album during Christmas 2009 at their manager's home. Jackson said, "I think there will be a natural instrument or two on there though, which will make a change from the first record." She added that due to limited time, she did not think there would be "anything in terms of a second record for a while".[34] As of January 2011, La Roux were writing their second album with a somewhat established indie rock band whose members are friends of Jackson. Jackson told the NME, "I know I'm not going to stop writing until we've got songs that can compete on the same level as 'In For The Kill' and 'Bulletproof'".[35] In January 2012, Jackson described the second album as "a lot cheekier. Not 'Touch My Bum' cheeky or Carry On cheeky—just slightly suggestive [...] A lot of music that's quite sexual is aggressive, but the music itself doesn't sound sexy—it's more people shouting, 'Look at my bum! Look!' I'm not turned on by it, I'm terrified." She also noted she felt a lot of pressure to replicate the quality of the duo's debut album.[36] Unlike the first album, album two was said to draw more on acoustic sounds and instruments, including guitars, organs and percussion; however, analog and digital synthesizers would still feature as part of the overall sound. Jackson confirmed she would be playing instruments on the record, in addition to co-writing, co-producing and providing vocals.

La Roux started a low-key comeback tour on 28 March 2013 in Brighton with two more venues in Bristol and Coventry during the following week. It was confirmed via a copy of the set list that there were four new songs: "Uptight Downtown", "Kiss and Not Tell", "Sexotheque" and "Tropical Chancer". Early reactions to the new material were positive.[37] Proof of a new album surfaced on 21 March 2014, when Tim Jonze, music columnist for The Guardian, tweeted that he "heard the new La Roux album yesterday and it was bloody brilliant." The official La Roux page responded with "Thanks!"[38] On 8 April 2014, La Roux announced their second studio album, Trouble in Paradise, would be released on 21 July 2014, preceded by buzz single "Let Me Down Gently", which premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 12 May 2014. During the promotions for the album, Jackson revealed that she and Langmaid had parted ways, and she was now the sole member of La Roux.[1] Langmaid responded that he was "truly saddened" by the split, and added that he was still a fixture in the album's writing, including "Let Me Down Gently", which both he and Jackson enjoyed.[39]

In 2015 Jackson provided joint lead vocals for the tracks "Tutti Frutti" and "People on the High Line", along with backing vocals on "Plastic" for New Order's album Music Complete.[40]

Artistry

Elly Jackson's first interest was in folk music. She was particularly interested in Carole King and Nick Drake whose music she discovered in her parents' record collection. Jackson's early musical material consisted of folk ditties influenced by Joni Mitchell.[41] Her taste in music changed during her mid-teens when she became involved in the rave scene. She lists Gerry Rafferty,[42] Madonna, Prince, Depeche Mode, the Eurythmics, Jenny Wilson, and The Knife[43] as her influences. In July 2010, La Roux curated and mixed the latest volume of Sidetracked, a compilation series from Renaissance that allows artists from the electronic field free rein to showcase their musical interests. The mix eclectically features the likes of Japan, Heaven 17, Joyce Sims, Fever Ray (lead singer of The Knife), Doris Troy, Tears for Fears, Gerry Rafferty and many more of their influences. It also includes an exclusive recording of The Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb", a cover La Roux have been featuring in their then-recent live sets.[44]

Jackson is unhappy with what she perceives as a "normality" fashion trend among a majority of today's musical acts.[45][46] Her androgynous clothing and hair style has been compared to the 1980s group A Flock of Seagulls.[47][48] Jackson strongly opposes stylists who try to change her appearance to a more classically feminine look.[49]

Members

Eleanor Kate "Elly" Jackson (born 12 March 1988)[50] is an English singer, songwriter and the sole member of La Roux, a former synthpop duo which is now a solo project. Jackson is well known for having reddish toned hair and androgynous style.[51][52][53] Jackson has a soprano vocal range.[54] Jackson was born in London to The Bill and Emmerdale actress Trudie Goodwin and actor Kit Jackson, and has an older sister named Jessica. Jackson's great grandfather was Anthony Bernard, founder of the London Chamber Orchestra and first musical director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford upon Avon. Jackson attended Pimlico School, Sydenham High School, and Royal Russell School. Jackson has accumulated a lesbian cult following. Jackson was frequently bullied in school because of appearance and weight.[55]

Touring members

Mickey O'Brien is the longest member of Elly's live band, having joined in 2008. O'Brien was born in London, England. She played in a punk/rock band called Past Caring, and she was involved in the London scene at the time with The Libertines. She then joined Ali Love and supported the likes of Mark Ronson on tour and was part of the arising London warehouse Electro genre. Mickey is also the younger cousin of Radiohead's Ed O'Brien.

The rest of the live band consisted of William, Ed and Matty.[56] They were fired in 2016 to make way for a new line-up (with Mickey). [57]

The latest line-up in 2016 comprises Seye from Gorrilaz, Gbenga from Metronomy and Jay Sharrock from Miles Kane's band as well as Mickey.

Former member Ben Langmaid did not participate in the music videos or live performances with Jackson. Langmaid, a London-based producer and composer, has been involved with various other music projects in the past. He was a DJ throughout the 1990s.[58] He has a close association with Rollo Armstrong of Faithless; the two musicians went to the same school and later collaborated as Huff & Puff in the mid-1990s,[59] releasing the house single 'Help Me Make It' in 1996.[2] Langmaid also recorded as Atomic and was one half of Huff & Herb,[59] before contributing as a songwriter to indie rock band Kubb's debut album Mother, released in 2005.[2] This project was again linked to Rollo Armstrong; Kubb's frontman Harry Collier was introduced to Langmaid after Collier sang 'Happy Birthday to You' to Armstrong whilst working as a waiter in a North London organic café.[60] Langmaid turned down the offer of a permanent position in Kubb.[60] In 2011, Langmaid wrote material for the early 1990s R&B-styled girl group War of Words.[58]

Discography

Main article: La Roux discography

Awards

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2009 O2 Silver Clef Awards Best Newcomer La Roux Won[61]
Studio8 International Music Awards Best Female Newcomer Elly Jackson Won
Studio8 Song of July 2009 "Bulletproof" Won
Mercury Prize – La Roux Nominated[25]
MTV Europe Music Awards Best New Act La Roux Nominated
Best Push Artist Nominated
Best UK & Ireland New Act Nominated
Virgin Media Music Awards Best Newcomer La Roux Nominated
Best Album La Roux Nominated
mtvU Woodie Awards Breaking Woodie La Roux Nominated
Q Awards Breakthrough Artist Nominated
UK Festival Awards Best Breakthrough Act Nominated
Popjustice £20 Music Prize 5th "In for the Kill" Nominated
The Record of the Year 7th "In for the Kill" Nominated
UK Music Video Awards Best Styling in a Video "Quicksand" Nominated
iTunes 2009 UK Music Awards Single of the Year "In for the Kill" Won
Best Art Vinyl Best Art Vinyl 2009 La Roux 9th[62]
2010 Brit Awards British Breakthrough Act La Roux Nominated
British Single "In for the Kill" Nominated
Glamour Women of the Year Awards Band of the Year La Roux Nominated
Sheer Infusion Newcomer La Roux Nominated
NME Awards Best Dancefloor Filler "In for the Kill" (Skream Remix) Won
Best New Band La Roux Nominated
Best Dressed Elly Jackson Nominated
Ivor Novello Awards Best Contemporary Song "In for the Kill" Nominated[63]
MTV Video Music Awards Japan Best Dance Video "I'm Not Your Toy" Nominated
International Dance Music Awards Best Underground Dance Track "In for the Kill" (Skream Remix) Nominated
Best Alternative/Rock Dance Track "Bulletproof" Nominated
Best Electro Track "In for the Kill" (Skream Remix) Nominated
Best Dubstep/DNB/Jungle Track "In for the Kill" (Skream Remix) Won
Best Break-Through Artist (Group) La Roux Won
NewNowNext Awards Brink of Fame: Music Artist La Roux Nominated
2011 Grammy Awards Best Dance Recording "In for the Kill" Nominated[28]
Best Electronic/Dance Album La Roux Won[28]
Billboard Music Awards Top Dance Artist La Roux Nominated[64]
2015 NME Awards Best Album Trouble in Paradise Nominated[65]
Best Solo Act La Roux Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 "Track Review - La Roux's Soul-Purging Comeback Epic 'Let Me Down Gently'". NME. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Phares, Heather (2009). "La Roux". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  3. ↑ Bray, Elisa (5 April 2013). "Our friends electric: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". The Independent. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Interview with La Roux ahead of Nottingham date on the NME Tour". Nottingham Evening Post. 24 April 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  5. ↑ Grundy, Gareth (15 March 2009). "Electronic review: La Roux, In for the Kill (Skream remix)". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  6. ↑ Klapper, Rudy (15 September 2010). "Klap 4 Music: La Roux, In For The Kill (Skrillex Remix)". Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "La Roux – In for the Kill (Lifelike remix)". Kitsuné Music. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  8. 1 2 "NME News La Roux to play London Scala - NME". NME. 1 June 2009.
  9. ↑ "US sales improve, but nothing to boast about". Music Week.
  10. ↑ Billboard Chart Listing La Roux
  11. ↑ "NME News La Roux announce new single details - NME". NME. 13 August 2009.
  12. ↑ Publié par Stéphane Brunet (1 March 2004). "Infos, exclus, découvertes: La Roux – As if by magic, nouveau single". Hall Musique. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  13. ↑ Copsey, Robert (15 July 2010). "La Roux announce new single, video news". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  14. ↑ "La Roux To Support Lily Allen On UK Tour". Gigwise.com. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  15. ↑ "La Roux to headline 2009 Samsung NME Radar Tour". NME. 3 March 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  16. ↑ "NME News La Roux, Marmaduke Duke, Big Pink for Reading And Leeds Festivals - NME". NME. 9 June 2009.
  17. ↑ "NME News La Roux announce North American tour - NME". NME. 19 June 2009.
  18. ↑ "La Roux on Jimmy Kimmel Live". Cherrytree Records. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "NME News La Roux plot North American tour - NME". NME. 26 August 2009.
  20. ↑ "AltSounds - The Best New Music Videos In The World". AltSounds.
  21. ↑ Gregory, Jason (8 July 2009). "La Roux Announces Massive Autumn UK Tour". Gigwise. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  22. ↑ Youngs, Ian (5 January 2009). "BBC Sound of 2009: La Roux". BBC News. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  23. ↑ Lester, Paul (19 November 2008). "New band of the day – No 433: La Roux". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  24. ↑ Lovell, Rebecca (18 January 2009). "The Best New Acts of 2009: La Roux". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  25. 1 2 "NME News Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2009: nominees announced - NME". NME. 21 July 2009.
  26. ↑ "La Roux to Tour the U.S.". Spin.
  27. ↑ "MTV EMA". MTV.
  28. 1 2 3 "GRAMMY.com - The Official Site of Music's Biggest Night". The GRAMMYs.
  29. ↑ "NME News Kanye West announces La Roux, Jay-Z, MIA will feature on new album - NME". NME. 7 October 2010.
  30. ↑ "Kanye West Adds M.I.A., La Roux And Alicia Keys To Album". MTV News.
  31. ↑ "Kanye West & Jay-Z f. Elly Jackson of La Roux". HipHopDX. 22 November 2010.
  32. ↑ "Kanye West and Jay-Z's 'Watch the Throne': A Track-by-Track Breakdown". Rolling Stone.
  33. ↑ "Magazine Homepage". glasswerk.co.uk.
  34. ↑ "La Roux to begin work on second album". NME. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  35. ↑ "La Roux writing second album with 'established' indie band". NME. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  36. ↑ Harmsworth, Andrei (20 January 2012). "La Roux's Elly Jackson: The music on our new album is a lot sexier". Metro. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  37. ↑ "La Roux's in full-on Get On With It mode, and about time too to be honest". Popjustice. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  38. ↑ "El nuevo disco de La Roux existe". 21 March 2014.
  39. ↑ "Ben Langmaid 'truly saddened' by his departure from La Roux". NME. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  40. ↑ "New Order Announces European tour & special guests on new album". Mute. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  41. ↑ "Breaking: La Roux". Rolling Stone. 4 November 2009.
  42. ↑ "Elly Jackson: 'It's not just being catchy'". The Independent.
  43. ↑ Wøien, Kim (4 September 2009). "Et intervju med La Roux" (in Norwegian). Musikknyheter.no.
  44. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100726070133/http://www.renaissance.dj/micro/sidetracked_laroux/index.htm. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)]
  45. ↑ Day, Elizabeth (19 April 2009). "Pop's new wave: quirky, stylish girls fashioned from the 80s". The Observer. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  46. ↑ Dingwall, John (1 May 2009). "A Girl Named Roux Leads 80s Revival; Electropop Trendsetter Recaptures the Style of New Romantics for A New Generation of Music Fans". California Chronicle. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  47. ↑ Lester, Paul (24 September 2009). "La Roux: 'Of course Lady Gaga's not my thing'". The Guardian.
  48. ↑ "N-Dubz hit out at 'bitter' La Roux". Newsbeat. BBC News. 1 October 2009.
  49. ↑ "La Roux takes its best shot". Los Angeles Times.
  50. ↑ https://twitter.com/larouxofficial/status/574713474825216000
  51. ↑ Odell, Amy (24 June 2010). "La Roux's Elly Jackson Refused to Wear Heels at Viktor & Rolf's Men's Show". New York.
  52. ↑ Kennedy, Gerrick D. (14 July 2010). "La Roux Takes its Best Shot". Los Angeles Times.
  53. ↑ "England's Dreamy". Spin. September 2009. p. 66.
  54. ↑ Fuller, Andy. "Elly Jackson SPG Interview". Student Pocket Guide. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  55. ↑ "La Roux singer tells of bullying". BreakingNews.ie. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  56. ↑ "La Roux au Bataclan". Culturebox.
  57. ↑ https://twitter.com/SeyeMusic/status/728309002413719552?lang=en-gb
  58. 1 2 "Why are La Roux and Example writing for girl bands?". BBC News.
  59. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 262. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  60. 1 2 O'Brien, Jon (2009). "Kubb". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  61. ↑ Take That, Madness Win Silver Clefs Billboard Business News 4 July 2009 Archived 1 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  62. ↑ "Muse, Florence and the Machine and Laroux among best record sleeves of 2009". The Daily Telegraph. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  63. ↑ "Lily Allen". Billboard.
  64. ↑ "Full 2011 Billboard Music Awards Finalists List". Billboard.
  65. ↑ "NME Awards 2015 With Austin, Texas - Meet The Nominees". Retrieved 19 January 2016.
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