La Roux

La Roux (pronounced /lɑːˈruː/ in English, French: [laˈʁu]) is an English electropop and synthpop duo made up of singer Eleanor Jackson (born 12 March 1988),^[1] and synthesizer player, co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid. Jackson describes their respective roles as “very much a half and half sharing situation… not like a singer producer outfit”, but also recognising that it often can “look like a solo act”.^[2]

Their music is influenced by 1980s synthpop including Yazoo, Erasure, Depeche Mode, The Human League, Heaven 17 and Blancmange. The band’s name originates from Jackson’s red hair; she has said:

To me, it means “red-haired one” – and it does, vaguely. It’s just a male version of “red-haired one”, which I think is even cooler, because I’m, well, androgynous anyway. So it kind of makes sense.^[3]