La Roux – “Night Vision”

La Roux has night vision and still cannot see the red flags. It's an impressive achievement, really. On “Night Vision," the focus track from her newly released album Old Flames, she's losing sleep over someone she barely sees, imagining a version of them that may or may not exist, and wondering whether she's wasting her time. The evidence is piling up. The witnesses are concerned. And La Roux, armed with one of the most recognizable voices in British pop, has decided she'd rather make an excellent song about it than answer a single reasonable question.

I've had a soft spot for La Roux since her self-titled debut arrived in 2009 and made the rest of us reconsider our relationship with synthesizers. “In for the Kill.” “Bulletproof.” “I'm Not Your Toy.” That record was practically a public service announcement for having impeccable taste. Seventeen years later, Elly Jackson still possesses the kind of vocal identity most artists spend their careers trying to establish. You know it's her within seconds. That sharp, unmistakable tone can sound wounded, defiant, seductive, and mildly offended by your existence, sometimes within the same verse. On “Night Vision,” she gets to show off a softer, more lovesick side, with a pitched-down vocal that nods to Mariah Carey's “Heartbreaker.” Mariah and La Roux in the same musical conversation? Please respect my privacy during this extremely enjoyable time.

The song leans into the warm, slinky R&B influences running through Old Flames, trading some of the icy synth-pop edges of her early work for a more intimate kind of romantic trouble. Jackson has described this part of the album as a period of getting lost in fantasy, and “Night Vision” makes a convincing case for why she'd want to stay there. The person she's singing about keeps drawing her in and disappearing, leaving her to fill the gaps with imagination. At one point, she admits she's created an entire version of this person in her head. Which is an extraordinary amount of unpaid creative labor for someone who can't even manage consistent face time. Still, the melodies are gorgeous, the vocal layers are beautifully considered, and the chorus has that familiar La Roux ability to turn emotional distress into a reason to move your shoulders.

Old Flames, her fourth studio album and first in six years, finds Jackson looking back at the relationships and habits she's ready to leave behind. She wrote, produced, composed, and arranged the record herself, and “Night Vision” is a reminder of how distinctive her musical instincts remain. There's a particular pleasure in hearing an artist whose voice helped define an era find new ways to use it. As for the romantic situation, I sincerely hope everyone involved has since discovered the benefits of clear communication. But if La Roux insists on wandering around in the dark, at least she's brought excellent music for the trip.