7/10

It has been five years since we last heard any new material from La Roux, which if you think about it, is an incredibly long time to be away from the scene. Just consider for a second all the careers and fad genres that have come and gone since 2009 and you quickly realise that after that much time away, she may as well start from scratch and reinvent herself completely. But while the name on the record is still the same, that seems to have been La Roux's intention this time round as her second full-length delivers a far more sombre note.

Compare this album to her self-titled debut and you'd be hard pressed to find another artist that has gone through a similar dramatic change. While the first record was filled with jarring electro and high-pitched whaling, 'Trouble In Paradise' is the antithesis to all of that as it keeps itself very much on the lighter side of electronic music, while La Roux keeps her vocals placid to suit her new direction. Although many may not understand it, this new sound is just what she needs to reinvent herself given the amount of time we haven't been listening to her records. It plays more as debut record, brimming with interesting ideas while keeping the sound controlled and reigned in throughout.

It may not be the bombastic return most of her fans would have liked to have seen, but as a standalone record, it suits this current musical zeitgeist to a tee and delivers as a strong and confident release from an artist who is clearly not finished with her musical journey yet.