Water imagery figures prominently in Phoenix’s Alpha Zulu, with liquidy sonics to match. On the mesmeric “Winter Solstice,” Thomas Mars’s dreamy falsetto cryptically promises to “wash my hands/until it rains/through you,” as the song itself seems to rise up from under the sea, its explosive keyboard lines swelling with anticipation. On the following track, “Season 2,” a reference to Niagara Falls is coupled with whooshing synths.
Per usual for Phoenix, this is all done with the lightest of touches. Their seventh album’s lead single, “Tonight,” practically glistens, its snappy pace set by brisk drumming and an irresistible bass guitar lick, capped off by the reverberating, overlapping voices of Mars and guest vocalist Ezra Koenig. Lyrics like “Your feet are hurtin’ less with moccasins” and “You need a little splendor” also succinctly encapsulate the casual luxuriousness of the band’s approach.
Songs like “Season 2” and “After Midnight” are featherweight to the point that they could float away, but there’s an effortlessness that belies the band’s meticulous craftsmanship. The album was recorded entirely in the Louvre, and almost all of it has a rich veneer that seems inspired by the artwork that the band was surrounded by (one song is tellingly called “Artefact”).
In a continuation of the direction Phoenix took on their previous two albums, Bankrupt! and Ti Amo, the band favors needling synths and skittering drum machines over the crisp guitars and live percussion of their earlier efforts. Guitars still tinker in the background in spots across Alpha Zulu, and they finally take center stage on both “Artefact” and the penultimate track, “My Elixir,” but the instrument’s usage almost feels antiquated after the more contemporary, computer-effect-dominated songs that precede them.
Mars thematizes this evolution to moving effect, musing about time passing, feeling old, and being eclipsed by new technologies and lifestyles. On “The Only One,” the singer is in his Gen X bag, bemoaning “emoticons” and suggesting lighting a candle or a cigarette before emitting that eternal pop chestnut: “I wanna be forever young.” Somehow, it doesn’t induce a cringe.
Alpha Zulu runs at a tight 35 minutes, five of which are ceded to an expanded version of “Identical,” the lovely track that Phoenix made for Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks, which they also scored. So while the album finds the band back in their proverbial wheelhouse, they struggle a bit when they venture outside of it. Both the title track, with its exclamation of “Woo-ha! Singing hallelujah!,” and “All Eyes on Me,” with its whip cracks and anxious synths, attempt to strike a more dastardly and vaguely dangerous vibe that they don’t really pull off. But for the most part, Alpha Zulu delivers the kind of deceptively simple, fleet pop for which Phoenix is best known.
Since 2001, we've brought you uncompromising, candid takes on the world of film, music, television, video games, theater, and more. Independently owned and operated publications like Slant have been hit hard in recent years, but we’re committed to keeping our content free and accessible—meaning no paywalls or fees.
If you like what we do, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a donation.
