Review Summary: †is a fantastic yet polarising album which has a potentially broad appeal with music fans who aren't necessarily dance music connoisseurs. A contender for album of the year.
"We don't give a fuck. There's no name on the cover, no band logo, the album is just â€*." - Pedro Winter (Manager of Daft Punk and Justice, owner of Ed Banger records)
If someone was to see that album cover in a record store, I wouldn't blame them more mistaking it for something other than a Dance album. Hell, a few changes could fool anyone into thinking it is a project involving Deicide's Glen Benton. Thankfully, this is not the case and the album in question is actually the debut from the new superstars of the French House scene, Justice. After coming to prominence with their hit remix of Simian's Never Be Alone, Justice have been steadily building a following not only among fans of dance music, but also people (like me) whose knowledge of dance music consists of Daft Punk and a handful of other artists.
Alas, after hearing the first 90 seconds of this album, you'll probably realise the mysterious album art isn't a total oxymoron. Genesis kicks things off with foreboding synths that make way for the song's centrepiece; a growling, distorted bassline which twists and turns throughout the duration, eventually making way for an extended outro that leads us straight into Let There Be Light, and then â€* first single, D.A.N.C.E., which is their simultaneous homage to Michael Jackson and Daft Punk. The vocal and synth parts are reminiscent of something from
Discovery and on the other hand, the lyrics (Do the D.A.N.C.E./Stick to the B.E.A.T./Just easy as A.B.C./Do the DANCE) and slapping-and-popping bassline are an obvious nod to MJ in his prime.
Where Let There be Light and D.A.N.C.E. were clean and cheerful affairs, Newjack and both Phantom songs see Justice delving into their darker, more distorted side again. Newjack is pretty much a polar opposite to the two songs that preceded it, and sees Justice's tendencies to slice their melodies into tiny parts taken to another level. In certain parts, it becomes so jittery that it's difficult to tell the instruments apart from the noises in between the slices, however just when it seems like you're in for 4 minutes of incoherence, they reel things back in with a well placed segue into something more relaxed.
For the second half of the album, â€* seems to echo the first half mood-wise, with Valentine and The Party allowing you to wind down after the frantic last 15 minutes. Valentine is kind of boring, but The Party (featuring American teenager Uffie on vocals) is a musically quiet but lyrically trashy look at how the folks at Ed Banger like to ppaarrttyy. Then, from DVNO through to One Minute to Midnight is the climax of the record, with two excellent tracks in DVNO and Stress making things progressively more distorted and chaotic to prepare us for Waters of Nazareth, which is four minutes of unadulterated, distorted fun. For me, it is undoubtedly the highlight of the album. Structure wise, it's got more in common with the cleaner tracks on the album such as Let There Be Light, but sonically it's the harshest moment here.
Production wise, â€* is also pretty damn good, with all the synths and samples being quite excellent quality wise. The one thing that really sets it apart from other dance albums I've heard though, is the lack of low end to the recording. The bass on the album has this loud, Motörhead-esque distortion and when combined with the punchy drum sounds makes for a rather unique sounding Dance album.
To sum up, â€* is a fantastic yet polarising album which has a potentially broad appeal with (rock) music fans who aren’t necessarily dance music connoisseurs. Personally, it's the best thing I've heard all year, and will certainly be a contender in many album of the year lists come December.
