Many music lovers of a certain age may remember a little synthpop breakthrough single called “Bulletproof”. This song came out in 2009 on La Roux’s self-titled debut, when the name still referred to the duo of Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid.La Roux has been Jackson’s solo project since 2012, when Langmaid departed. She released a second album, Trouble in Paradise, in 2014, which earned similar praise from critics. But then she seemingly disappeared from the public eye. La Roux was labeled a one-hit wonder, a forgotten act of the 2010s.Jackson didn’t release any new music for five years, and was out of the spotlight for a decade. She would provide vocals for other artists occasionally, but didn’t make many public appearances. It wasn’t until 2019 that Jackson returned to making music, releasing two singles from her forthcoming self-released album Supervision. In a September 2026 social media post, Jackson revisited her first big hit. She posted a video of herself with “Bulletproof” playing in the background. The overlaid text played into the song’s theme, with Jackson writing, “You think you can hurt me? I literally wrote and sung this song, lost my voice, had a nervous breakdown and disappeared for 10 years.”La Roux Is Back After a 10-Year Disappearance and Another 6-Year Hiatus, Gearing up for First New Album Since 2020Despite what seemed like a bright future for La Roux, Elly Jackson put the project on hiatus for a decade. A nervous breakdown will do that. But even though she returned in 2020, that experience was ultimately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Supervision was released in February 2020, with an international tour planned that year. This was La Roux’s big comeback, but it was postponed until November 2020, then cancelled altogether. After that, Jackson took another hiatus. This time, she effectively disappeared for six years. However, her next album, Old Flames, is set for November 2026.When Jackson spoke with AnOther Magazine in August 2026, she explained this second hiatus. According to Jackson, the pandemic made her question if there was “any point” to making another album.“I’d only just finished [Supervision] when the pandemic hit, so I wasn’t ready to start making a new record instantly. You need a gap before you make new work,” she said. She added that, while she did have some new ideas at the time, “It took a couple of years to know if I even wanted to make another record or if there was any point.”Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage for ABAThe post 2010s Synthpop Icon Reveals the Reason for Her Decade-Long Disappearance From the Spotlight appeared first on VICE.