RFI Musique - - Album review

Album review

Phoenix

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Paris

25/05/2009 -

Versailles-based foursome Phoenix have gone back to their roots on their fourth album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. After eighteen months in the studio the band have blended finely-honed pop melodies and ambient textures to perfection, coming up with a sound that looks set to continue their international domination.

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Phoenix are a band apart on the international music map. Too adept at singing in English to limit their ambitions to France - and yet perhaps too musically elaborate and sophisticated to pass themselves off as British or American ! Since they first emerged at the height of the "French Touch" craze, the French foursome have carved out their own special place on the global music map with a distinctive pop sound constructed electro-style.

Following the release of their rock-infused third album, It's Never Been Like That, Phoenix performed an abrupt about-turn, going back to the electro-pop groove they first made their name with. 1901, the first single from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, confirms this shift with a host of synthesisers and other special Moog effects sparring with jangling guitars. Meanwhile, Thomas Mars' aerial vocals take on a rounder, fuller texture here.

One of the main strengths of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the almost scientific balance the album strikes between sound and emotion. From a first listen, tracks such as Fences and Rome sound like ready-made pop anthems destined for stadium audiences. And the album never slips quietly into routine, keeping listeners on their toes as it switches from the fast-tempo beats of Lasso to more slowly building tracks such as the ultra-ambient Love Like a Sunset. With producer Philippe Zdar weaving in breaks, groovy bass and ample drum beats, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a smoothly produced piece of contemporary psychedelia truly in a class of its own !