La Roux is back! Their new album, Trouble in Paradise, will drop on July 8th via Polydor. You can pre-order it on iTunes right now and if you do you get the pre-order track “Let Me Down Gently,” which is, naturally, our #songoftheday. It begins with hushed, oh-so-very-80s synth courtesy of the duo’s multi-instrumentalist/producer Ben Langmaid. Soon, Elly Jackson begins singing, her precious vocals warm one second and icy the next: “Let me down gently / That’s what I think I need / But when you let me down gently / It still feels hard.”
As it goes on, it proves to be a luscious if moody down-tempo ballad with some serious horns; we can’t tell if they’re synthesized or real. Ultimately, this one has a slightly mature sound than that heard on the duo’s self-titled debut from way back in 2009. If you like Austra or Fever Ray, or even R&Bers like The Weeknd and Dawn Richard, you’ll go gaga for this fine gem.
Interestingly, when Elly first started talking about making a second album she sounded like she was entirely sick of their debut, stating that she wanted their sophomore release to sound completely different, perhaps not even of the same genre. But, thankfully, “Let Me Down Gently” sounds like a natural progression for them, a perfect follow up to their debut. It makes us wonder if they made a totally different album during the past few years and decided it wasn’t right for them then made Trouble in Paradise and decided to release that one instead. Perhaps we’ll never know. But we don’t mind. We’re just looking for trouble right now.
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