La Roux

Supervision

La Roux's Supervision is a testament to propelling forward, even if its sounds take you backward, and knowing that good synthpop will never go out of style.

High notes are hard to come by on Supervision, but that means it’s a pretty smooth listen.

Largely inoffensive and wholly listenable. Which is fine, but we’ve come to expect more from La Roux.

As an exercise in reclaiming control, in setting out her stall, it is a definite success, a hand-made pop exercise in an era dominated by algorithmic marketing plans. As a listening experience, though, it’s somewhat limited and frustratingly repetitive, ultimately paling next to La Roux’s previous heights.

Supervision is certainly not a bad album, but it’s a far cry from the bristling pop genius of Jackson’s best work.

Supervision is at times frustrating – an avoidable misstep here, an overindulgence there. But it also contains some of La Roux’s best music to date, music that’s witty, danceable and endearing all in one.

Supervision falls short of that wow factor that La Roux has so effortlessly delivered in the past.

Whereas La Roux’s earlier songs were compressed tightly into radio-friendly singles that were as fleeting as they were catchy, Supervision lets each song simmer for longer than you’d expect.

From the get-go, the record is a letdown. The production is tinny and lacks depth, with each tune crying out for a bassline.