Oh Elly Jackson, where have you been all this time? La Roux has had the obvious popular synthpop singles such as their most known, Bulletproof. Followed by that came some smashing electronic tracks like In for the Kill and I'm Not Your Toy. Now that was back in 2009 but nonetheless that self titled album had some amazing songs I still find getting stuck in my head. I mean it's understandable seeing how La Roux, Ke$ha, and Lady Gaga were basically all I listened to in seventh grade. Old habits die hard I guess. After having so much success with a first album it's very common for artists to find trouble in creating a prosperous sophomore album, understandably so I mean I can only imagine the stress of wondering whether listeners will respond the same the second time around. However the truth is, us listeners will always compare an artists new stuff to their old stuff. We just can't help it, it's what we do. Take MGMT for example, Oracular Spectacular...best.album.ever. Am I right? So when they came out with Optimizer I expected way more than what I got. Barely any lyrics, way too synthesized for my taste, the album just didn't have me intrigued. But then you have Phoenix, several albums later and the only one you really need is Wolfgang Amadeus (2009). Every single track on that album are killer anthems EVERYONE knows. So the question is, did La Roux create an album worth waiting for? Well it took her 5 years but god she did it. Her solo album that came out last month entitled Trouble in Paradise has me so hooked. As soon as she came out with the first single I immediately knew I had to review this album. Much to my surprise it took me a while to really listen and dissect every track in order to identify the underlining emotions of this tropical themed piece. She says in an interview, "some of it is very observational and some of it is very personal." Nonetheless all the songs are very catchy with the obvious addition of some crazy unique beats (I mean hello it's La Roux.) My personal favorites include Uptight Downtown, Paradise is You, and Tropical Chancer. Paradise is You contains such melodic meaningful lyrics there's no doubt that song was written about someone. Tropical Chancer is just.... such a groovy song, I can't even find a better word to explain it. It's a really good song to quickly jam out to, haha. So if you couldn't tell already, all the track names are "paradise" themed which is so smart in my opinion. She did a great job with that because as a listener, I think of Trouble in Paradise as more of a story rather than an album. Everything connects with each other and there is an obvious theme, which I think was a great way for her to take on her sophomore album. All in all Elly did a great job in my opinion, now will this album blow up as quickly as the first? It pains me to say this but unfortunately I don't think so, just because like I said the whole album goes together beautifully but if you were to pick out a smash single to play on the radio tomorrow I think you'd have a hard time. Regardless, I'd totally give this album a shot if you're familiar with her work. Even if you're not, I think anyone would enjoy it if they gave it the time. Anyways now for the exciting news, I recently just got a job so as soon as I get my first paycheck I'll be buying my ticket for La Roux's show in September! Oh god, just thinking about seeing Bulletproof live makes me want to cry so I try not to think about it too much. Below I've inserted an album review I really enjoyed watching, this guy does all kinds of music reviews on his YouTube channel it's pretty dope I'm glad I found him. I touch base on a couple of his points so if you wanna check his video out to get more insight on Trouble in Paradise please do.
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