La Noux

First of all, I have been waiting YEARS to use that title. La Noux. Perfection. At times, I honestly thought this pop moment would never come.

And then, the reason we're all here: there's a new La Roux single to talk about. 

So, the artwork. To the left? Amazing. The campaign for the self-titled record had absolutely flawless artwork and said perfection has carried over so far. It's "very much La Roux" without being a straight-up retread. Honestly, I can't imagine it being any more perfect.

The single? It's called "Let Me Down Gently", and it's "out there". I won't bother posting a link or video or anything, because anything I put up will be gone by the time you read this. But seek and ye shall find, as the saying goes.

Anyways, it is wonderful because it is absolutely not what you'd expect. A slow burner - think "Armour Love" from the first album but not even that poppy and you'd be on the right track. It's 5 1/2 minutes long, and halfway through there's a pregnant pause that suggests the first half is a build up to something bigger...and that something bigger never comes. The song simply returns just as mid-tempo as it was to begin with, albeit with a little more instrumentation to dress it up. Oh, and a saxophone part that makes it sound like the long-lost cousin to Tears for Fears' "The Working Hour". (That's obviously a compliment, by the way.) And then? It just ends. Like, no notice, just silence. A cop out in a way, but it's actually fine.

It's a total album closer, outside of that ending. So maybe a halfway point? Not sure. Definitely not an opener, that's for sure. If the 9-track album reports are true, this is surely track 4 or 9, not 1.

The title? It could totally be a wry wink, a suggestion that whatever they do, a second La Roux album couldn't live up to the first. Except, this shows that it totally can.

The lyrics? "You're not my life but I want you in it." Done. 

There are many reasons why this is exactly the comeback La Roux needed - it's unmistakably a La Roux track but it also sounds like a departure from the first album. The vocals aren't the hysterical shriek and the beats aren't the bludgeon-you-over-the-head pound that made "In For The Kill" so fantastic, but I genuinely feel as excited upon my first few listens of this as I did upon first hearing "In For The Kill" approximately 5 years and 3 months ago. (Shit, it really has been that long, hasn't it?) And, let me remind you, I was *really* fucking excited about "In For The Kill" 5 years and 3 months ago. It's a track that makes you think: "umm, this isn't what I wanted at all" when it starts up the first time, but by the end it's all you want to listen to. (Trust me, I've had it on repeat for the past 90 minutes.)

It. Is. Perfect. 

Thank you, La Roux. Can't wait to see you next month in Philly.