Arriving with a bang on the electronic scene in 2007, the French duo Justice is back on track with a fourth album, the mellow Hyperdrama. A few days after his second performance at the Coachella festival, The duty finds him in Monterrey, Mexico, bringing back the spirit of the French touch to fill the void left by the disappearance of Daft Punk.
In any case, this is what we discern from this new album – but what Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay defend themselves against. “For us, Daft Punk is above all a house music group; We don’t come from house at all,” assures the latter.
And this is what allowed them to emerge in the mid-2000s: an attitude more rock than electronic. This sound, propelled by a house rhythm and often in tune with the sound of French touch (DANCE, one of their first successes), but blasted by synthesizers imitating the sounds of an electric guitar plugged into an amp as big as an ambulance. With titles like Waters of Nazareth And StressJustice introduced with its first album, entitled Cross, an element of danger in the ultimately very polite French house scene. A house fertilized with disco, synth-funk and soul, which this fresh fourth album ends up resembling.
The guys, however, refute this reading. “The writing of this album is actually based on loops, hence this repetitive side,” recognizes Gaspard. But it’s more than a tribute to the French touch, it wasn’t our initial idea. And then, “French touch”, it doesn’t mean much: in the sense that we can put Air, Phoenix [plus indie pop rock qu’électronique], Cassius and Daft Punk, who do quite different things from each other. »
“For us, the French touch is a kind of romantic and somewhat distorted vision of Anglo-Saxon music. Of course, it’s part of our DNA, but we grew up mainly listening to music that came from elsewhere, like Parliament, and some from France, like Polnareff, Michel Berger, [le compositeur de musiques de films] François de Roubaix”, specifies Gaspard Augé who, in 2021, launched a first solo album, the maximalist and saccharine Getawaysbetween the soundtrack of American action films from the 1980s and disco from the same era.
Without causing shaking as intense as Cross, Hyperdrama always tries to attract us to the dance floor, but by daring new musical combinations. Xavier: “We always try to do something different with each album, but because of our personalities, our musical education, even if tomorrow we made a reggae or zouk album, it would still sound like us. The ideas are new, but the heart of our music remains the same. In our opinion, our four albums are very similar, but just dressed differently, like dolls. The first is dressed in black, the next in worn and torn clothes, the third in sequins. »
And the new one? “He’s wearing pieces of clothing that don’t go together!” » says Xavier. From disco to synthwave via the echo of 1990s raves, on the fierce generator at the beginning of the album, in particular. Connan Mockasin lends his voice to Exploresoul singer Miguel to Saturninejazz-funk bassist Thundercat rolls the notes on The End and Kevin Parker, aka Tame Impala, injects his tasty psyche-pop melancholy into Neverender when opening, then One Night/All Night.
Then there is Dear Alan, soft and bouncy, house and electro drenched in luminous synths. The title is a tribute to a pioneer of the French touch, Alan Braxe, composer (with Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk and singer Benjamin Diamond) of the bomb Music Sounds Better With Youreleased under the name Stardust in 1998.
“We, the French touch, are filtered disco, it’s not really our music,” Xavier repeats. But Braxe, we always found that he had his own thing. Its harmonies, its melancholy side, its polished productions: that’s the French touch that we love. For us, he is the hero of this scene. »
Certainly less recognized than Air or Daft Punk, recognize the guys from Justice, but just as essential.
“In fact, he is less well known, but I can assure you that everyone who knows his work will tell you that he is their favorite,” adds Gaspard. Braxe never made an album [une compilation de ses singles parue en 2005, The Upper Cuts, a récemment été rééditée], but all his pieces are relevant. There is such elegance in his music! When we find a series of chords that we like, we say to ourselves: “Ah! that’s good braxed !” »
And he is well “braxed”, Hyperdrama ? “At times, yeah!” » says Xavier.
Justice will present his new songs and his old hits in Montreal this summer, at the Osheaga festival.