Album Review: La Roux - Trouble In Paradise

English singer Elly Jackson goes in for the kill on her new album as La Roux. She’s worked with a new co-producer, and proves on Trouble In Paradise that she’s a bulletproof woman with all the hooks and grooves to make it on her own.

“He wants to know what it feels like to mess around/She wants to know what it feels like to settle down,” she sings on Sexotheque. On this second album, Jackson settles into a jangly, groovy style that’s all her own.

The album is a margarita of genres.

Taking cues from the melting pot of ‘80s pop music, Trouble In Paradise is inspired by the experimental pioneers of dance. Uptight Downtown borrows the post-punk strut of Orange Juice, while songs like Kiss And Not Tell and Tropical Chancer take something from the bright, shimmering funk of the Tom Tom Club. Danceable and catchy, the songs flirt from genre to genre while maintaining just the right balance of groove and sass. The album is a margarita of genres blended together with a singular vision.

Recording Trouble In Paradise with a full band, Jackson brings warmth and variety to her album, flying free from her ‘synth-pop’ label. Sax solos and funky guitar riffs drift past languid beach scenes and coastal skyscrapers.

The heavenly and tropical Paradise Is You stretches out beyond the standard pop structure, and is a stunning centrepiece to the album. Five years on from her debut, Trouble In Paradise is a mature, meticulously crafted album full of rich detail. There’s nothing more you could hope for from an established pop artist.