La Roux Almost Creates Something New with 'Supervision'
by Anna Wojnarowski
La Roux is a band that takes its time. With their last album being released in 2014, there was a lot of anticipation to see what they would do next: Supervision is their answer.
La Roux should do a master-class on how to make the perfect single. Every hit they’ve ever had is the epitome of dance-pop excellence and the tracks on“Supervision are no exception from this pattern.
Every song on this album could be a single. This isn’t necessarily a detriment to the album since every song brings a level of euphoric glee with each five-minute melody. However, as the album goes on, the listener might start to beg the question: Why does it still sound like the same song?
The album opens with “21st Century,” a song that asks: what happens when you feel like you’ve wasted your life thus far? With an extremely energetic and efficient chorus, singer Eleanor “Elly” Jackson stops her falsetto and uses her voice in full force. In joining a high pitched guitar, a crystal clear message, and a god-tier bridge, “21st Century” reminds us how much we really needed La Roux in our lives.
“Do You Feel” does something similar to the opening track in that it holds the same ‘80s neo-new wave that is clearly a huge influence on this album. Although there is a slightly different tone to this song over its predecessor, it feels like a very natural continuation. Producer Ben Langmaid weaves Elly’s voice into a snare drum-heavy beat; they layer on top of each other as the song gains traction. Easily one of the highlights of the album, this track shows that when Elly and Ben aren’t on autopilot (like during “He Rides”) something really special can come out of it.
“Automatic Driver,” the second single from this album, is another excellent Side A hit. Elly’s voice is reminiscent of Madonna’s in “Material Girl;” with uncanny similarity in tone and pitch, this helps to push “Automatic Driver” onto the next level away from being another throwaway Supervision track that songs like “He Rides” and “Gullible Fool” succumb to. Starting a little slower than the rest of the songs thus far, lyrically, it stops to reflect on a partner that refuses to really listen. Still bouncy enough to dance to, it doubles as a break-up song that one could half-step and cry to.
By the time we reach “International Women of Leisure,” it seems like all the songs have gelled together into one big epic. Another inoffensive hit, it is a no brainer that this song would be the first single off of Supervision. With a concise chorus that proclaims freedom from a relationship that has become toxic, it has interesting intent and message but seems a little tired by the time we get to it.
With this song marking the end of Side A, we see that Side B repeats a problem that plagues this album as a whole: it’s filled with the same great song over and over again. Although that one song is amazing, there is little diversity in the kinds of tones and messages that La Roux seems to want to send across to listeners. With such a small number of songs on the album, it makes it even more critical that they each should stand apart from one another. Yet, the result is, quite unfortunately, the opposite.