--- title: La Roux "Let Me Down Gently": Single Review & Listen description: It's been five years since La Roux had a surprise hit with "Bulletproof" — and now, they're back with something mellower, which is "like a morose flip of fellow synthpopper Robyn’s 'Call Your Girlfriend'" canonical: https://time.com/96190/la-roux-let-me-down-gently-listen-new-music/ author: Katherine St. Asaph article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-12T15:46:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:47:09.667Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: La Roux "Let Me Down Gently": Single Review & Listen og:description: It's been five years since La Roux had a surprise hit with "Bulletproof" — and now, they're back with something mellower, which is "like a morose flip of fellow synthpopper Robyn’s 'Call Your Girlfriend'" og:url: https://time.com/96190/la-roux-let-me-down-gently-listen-new-music/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt694b454bd176add8/69868eebe53aba4ce74d2872/168985191.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: La Roux og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: La Roux "Let Me Down Gently": Single Review & Listen twitter:description: It's been five years since La Roux had a surprise hit with "Bulletproof" — and now, they're back with something mellower, which is "like a morose flip of fellow synthpopper Robyn’s 'Call Your Girlfriend'" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt694b454bd176add8/69868eebe53aba4ce74d2872/168985191.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # La Roux Forges a Comeback With "Let Me Down Gently": Listen > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Katherine St. Asaph](https://time.com/author/katherine-st-asaph/) ## Katherine St. Asaph May 12, 2014 3:46 PM UTC  Elly Jackson of La Roux performs at Electric Daisy Carnival in 2013 Elly Jackson of La Roux performs at Electric Daisy Carnival in 2013Daniel Zuchnik—Getty Images by [Katherine St. Asaph](https://time.com/author/katherine-st-asaph/) ## Katherine St. Asaph May 12, 2014 3:46 PM UTC Here’s a minor milestone for you: La Roux’s debut album is now five years old. It doesn’t quite seem it, probably because most of the British group’s accolades came well after the album’s release: a sleeper US radio hit (“Bulletproof”) in 2010, a surprise Grammy in 2011, what seemed at the time like the most success any of their ‘80s-throwback synthpop peers would attain without becoming Lady Gaga. (Another sign 2009 was a very different place: Lady Gaga used to be seen as La Roux’s peer.) But the success was short-lived; “Bulletproof,” despite becoming La Roux’s biggest hit both worldwide and back home in the UK, didn’t get a substantial follow-up, and new material was sparse. “Unless we manage to write a record in two weeks I don’t think there will be anything in terms of a second record for a while,” vocalist Elly Jackson told NME – again – five years ago. After all that time, “Let Me Down Gently” is the first that’s been heard from the new record (not counting some [live material](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTm3NYxMrdY) in 2013)_,_ tentatively titled _Trouble in Paradise_. It’s far less splashy than most of _La Roux_: an ambivalent-attached breakup narrative, like a morose flip of fellow synthpopper Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend.” The track sounds it too: flanged synth washes, moody melodies, brooding background vocals, Jackson pained and aloof amid it all – singing, crucially, with little of her usual quirk – and, the clincher, a false stop in the middle before a full-on breakdown, sax and tears on the dance floor. Listen below. 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