Q+A
LA ROUX
LA ROUX WAS FLYING THE FLAG FOR NATIONAL ALBUM DAY THIS YEAR AS IT CELEBRATED HER FAVOURITE MUSICAL ERA. THE SYNTH-POP SINGER TELLS CP ABOUT SOME OF HER INSPIRATIONS.
DUNCAN SEAMAN
From her debut hit In For The Kill to this year’s Automatic Driver, the work of Elly Jackson, aka La Roux, is imbued with the spirit of 80s synth-pop. So it was apt, the 32-year-old says, that she was asked to be an ambassador for this year’s 80s-themed National Album Day, which took place earlier this month. “It’s really nice to be able to talk about the importance of the 80s record because I felt like it influenced the way music went for so long,” she says. “It’s a real golden period for music. It birthed some of the best talent that the world has ever seen in terms of intelligent pop music - and intelligent pop music is what excites me most.
“I feel like we’re getting further and further away from intelligent pop music being able to be at the top of the charts and being able to be the most commercially successful thing. It’s a bit sad, when you think about people like Prince being so incredibly talented, a genius, yet he was still at the top of the charts.”