Kiss and Not Tell

Album: Trouble in Paradise (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • Singing in a lower register and with more controlled tones than on La Roux's debut record, Elly Jackson sounds like a different person on this song. "I wasn't just an angry young girl when I made the first album, I was f---ing FURIOUS," she laughed to Q magazine, "That's why I sang in a register only dogs could hear."

    So what changed?

    "I'm not in pain any more," Jackson replied. "The first album was all, 'Ohhh, you don't love me.' I would drive to Ben's studio in tears every day. It's different this time because I didn't have that ache to write - I'm not writing songs to say, 'Yeah, that's what I f---ing feel about you!' I'm writing about characters instead."
  • The song features cult performer Chilly Gonzalez pounding the piano. The Canadian pianist and producer is best known for playing the outro on Drake's "Marvin's Room" and the flamenco solo that opens Daft Punk's "Within."
  • One-time La Roux collaborator, Ben Langmaid, is missing from Trouble In Paradise. The pair were on different pages sonically and the final split came during the recording of this song. Jackson recalled to The Sun: "The moment I realised it wasn't working was one afternoon in the barn studio we worked in. We had been desperately trying to record the guitar part of 'Kiss and Not Tell.' There was a lot of hum and noise in the barn because it wasn't designed for recording. It was frustrating. Then we finally got this great sound and I did the best guitar performance I've ever done. But Ben didn't want it, and that turned into a huge argument."

    "He left that night and that was the last time we saw each other," she added.
  • The song's music video was directed by Alexander Brown (James Blake's "The Wilhelm Scream"). The clip channels a 1980s adult chat line commercial with Elly Jackson playing host.

    Be warned - If you are tempted to call the British telephone phone number featured in the video (+44-155-728-0014), International Long Distance Rates apply. Fans that do call the La Roux hotline are offered the chance to "leave a cheeky message" or listen to the song.

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