Music

La Roux leaves ‘Trouble’ in their wake

“Trouble in Paradise” may have been born out of immense personal strife and uncertainty, but La Roux has returned from the verge of oblivion with one of the best albums of 2014.

Virtually every track comes complete with chart-ready hooks, but this time, the British act skillfully expands its synth-pop framework.

Buoyant opener “Uptight Downtown” has a classy hint of Duran Duran; the multi-layered strings, pianos and vocal harmonies of “Paradise Is You” are overwhelmingly beautiful; and the emotional power of the album’s centerpiece, “Let Me Down Gently,” is enough to floor you.

There’s no time to convalesce, though, because the only normal reaction to hearing “Trouble in Paradise” is to want to hear it again and again. And again.