Phoenix
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

THE REVIEW

Why did they wait so long? This is what came to my mind listening to this record.

Three years after the acclaimed "It's Never Been Like That," Phoenix returns to the scene with an ironic "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix."

Why did they wait so long? If I think back to the French indie scene, to that emo-tive and melancholic aspect, it seems like a distant, past period. Yet it was just a few years ago.

So, what do our cross-alpine friends offer us this time? An excellent product. Something different. Mature. They're still the same, but they have learned, and the sound is now finally compact and free. Now there's a wall of sound that creates an atmosphere less confined to that French (and a bit Belgian) scene of the late '90s-2000s. An irresistible album. In short, they have truly blossomed. All the songs are potential pop-hits.

There's a lot of disco. Faithful to their line as always. "Lisztomania" catapults you into an '80s movie, something like "Desperately Seeking Susan" or "Three Men and a Baby". "1901" is one of the most powerful tracks. It has a magnificent rhythmic architecture, full of offbeats, syncopated rhythms...and it's a pop song (so what?!)! Listen carefully to the drums and tell me if they aren't doing crazy things. "Fences" is the realm of disco. In the track, there's a falsetto part with a guitar riff that drives me crazy. "Love Like a Sunset" demonstrates the band's maturity. Here they took the liberty of making an almost entirely instrumental 8-minute piece. Lots of keyboard preceding the guitar groove, then the drums... "Lasso" would almost fit well in a Nada Surf album. "Rome" continues faithfully relying on funky guitars with soft keyboards. "Armistice" ends beautifully. 

It is indeed a dated album. It seems to belong to other times. In fact, it is precisely the hallmark of interesting music that for some time now has been passing through the doors of the convent.