Casually, it had been five years since the successor to “Ti Amo” was long overdue. Surprise, at the end of this tunnel, marked by the pandemic, Phoenix is back in stores this Friday, November 4 with “Alpha Zulu“, seventh disc which resonates with the pop rhythms of the beginnings, like the title “Same“. The French group, which is presented as the best known in the world, confided in franceinfo on this new album, composed in ten days in one of the wings of the Louvre museum, in Paris.
>>Five years after their last album, Phoenix begins a tour with the new single “Alpha Zulu”
Like an unexpected loop, “Alpha Zulu“recalls the energy and innocence of”United“, their first album released 22 years ago. To create, they confined themselves to the Museum of Decorative Arts. “Especially the way of designing alone in a room, without a sound engineer, just with ourselves, until the end, all four“, recalls Christian Mazzalai, one of the guitarists, for the ten days, we were like four children in an empty museum.”
“We knew we were going to meet again, we spent months apart. We knew we were going to have ten days together, where there was the same energy as when we were 17 and we had three hours … Less the shouting matches”adds Thomas Mars, the singer, who lives in the United States, and was therefore forced to adapt to the rhythm of the confinements to move.
“The Louvre was perfect because it was the quintessence of what we were looking for. We play with somewhat abstract codes for the United States”
Thomas Mars, lead singer of Phoenixat franceinfo
Without their late sound wizard, Philippe Zdar, who died in 2019, Phoenix has operated more in a vacuum, creating songs that sound like them. And shouting, too, their love for European culture, when they arouse a real passion in the United States. “I need Europe, after France in a slightly more specific way. We still grew up with the post-yé-yé, where all the inspirations, the songs were copies of American songs. We did the opposite. We sang in English, but instead of talking about palm trees, Cadillacs and jukeboxes, we were talking about hyper European things.” describes Thomas Mars.
The eagle has landed! New single: “Tonight’ Feat. Ezra Koenig — out now! We are so happy for you to hear this!!
The new album: ‘Alpha Zulu’ out November 4 — available for preorder now https://t.co/dW2JacwMz6 pic.twitter.com/pZCOAOBXLn
— Phoenix (@wearephoenix) September 7, 2022
The magic of Phoenix continues: from high school to Versailles, to the most oversized stages, always linked, always passionate, always united. The pop-rock group will be in Paris, with a concert at the Olympia on November 28 and 29.
With the album “Alpha Zulu”, the group Phoenix is making a return to the pop of its beginnings – report by Yann Bertrand
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