La Roux

La Roux

Synth-pop darlings La Roux are a duo: songwriter/ singer Elly Jackson and keyboardist/producer Ben Langmaid.

They make a surprisingly frazzled brand of rigid electronic music, a less-processed and decidedly non-sleek take on what passes at present for

'80s-inspired danz-rock. Langmaid is to be thanked for busted-up beats and crusty arrangements on electro-luxe numbers such as "Reflections Are Protection."

But like the duo it cribs from most, the Eurythmics, La Roux's central focus is its redheaded roarer. Jackson shares Annie Lennox's physical androgyny, what with her boyishly asymmetrical red hair. But it is her now-rough, now-silken croon and funky frostiness that, combined with the pair's rugged electronics, make La Roux dynamic and compelling.

Her snotty interaction with tight grooves ("Tigerlily"), her throaty purr ("Colourless Colour"), rapturous highs ("In for the Kill") and teetering-on-the-cliff falsetto ("Fascination") -- all are divine.

While Jackson the lyricist wears her heart on her sleeve, then casts those ruminations in iron (the wistful "As if by Magic"), Jackson the singer never holds back.

Even when broken -- as through the doleful ballad "Cover My Eyes" -- she summons the soul to out-sing the London Community Gospel Choir. Me impressed.

-- A.D. Amorosi, The Philadelphia Inquirer