Phoenix goes trans-European in their latest record

Band: Phoenix

Album: Ti Amo

Genre: Indie Pop/Rock

Four years after Bankrupt! French pop/rock band, Phoenix, is releasing their sixth album, Ti Amo.

J-Boy, the album’s first single, rings with such familiarity that makes me wonder if it was a leftover track that did not manage to make it in Bankrupt!. It has a number of Phoenix’s signature styles: repeated refrains in staccato beats (“Just because of you / These things I have to go through / Is it so bad? / Is it so true? / Is it still you?”) and instrumental synths in bridges, and yes, a song about love. Quite a textbook success for a single.

J-Boy from Ti Amo, 2017

Juxtaposing this with the eponymous single, the second one released just days after J-Boy, it immediately catches you off guard with its explosive riffs. However, Thomas Mars, the frontman, sounds more auto-tuned than usual; his distinct alto voice subdued.

Ti Amo from Ti Amo, 2017 (Side note, this is their official audio video?! Are they on a budget?)

Ti Amo, the single, is more upbeat and bubbly than what the band usually produces and I can’t help but warm up to it after a few listens. Phoenix has evolved so much from their garage rock days in the ‘90s. The band’s gamble to rejuvenate their sound comes as a pleasant surprise (they’ve been around for 18 years!), and a meaningful one at that. Daniel Glass from Glassnote Records, the band’s label, said that recent troubling events in Paris probably inspired the album’s “colourful record”*. Although I must admit, a change in direction for any artist or band will take some time getting used to. Case in point, listen to Party Time from the band’s first ever album, United, released in 1999.

Party Time from United, 1999

The new album is composed around an “inter-continental theme” and promises “summer and Italian discos”*. Two of the 10-track album already befit this theme and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the album will turn out on June 9th.

*Sources: Rolling Stone, Spin.com

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