Phoenix’s seventh album Alpha Zulu is their first release that could be categorized as just “synthpop,” which the band surprisingly pulls off.
Phoenix have always been somewhere between an electronic band and a rock band. Like other indie acts whose popularity peaked around 2010 – Passion Pit, Two Door Cinema Club, and Foster the People, to name a few – Phoenix were just as likely to use synthesizers as they were guitars. What sets Phoenix apart, however, is their longevity and consistency. They used an electronic-rock hybrid sound on early hits like “Too Young” and “If I Ever Feel Better” from their 2000 debut United, and continued doing so all the way up to 2017’s Ti Amo.
But Phoenix’s seventh album Alpha Zulu moves significantly away from rock, making it their first album that could be categorized as just “synthpop.” Surprisingly, the band pulls it off, and gives us some of their best tracks yet on a generally fun album.
Alpha Zulu starts out with two exceptionally strong singles. The opening title track immediately sets the album apart from its predecessors with a voice-like synthesizer melody, a bassline that echoes it, and a drum beat fit for dancefloors. You’ll probably be so distracted by its chorus of “woo ha! Singin’ ‘hallelujah!” that you won’t even notice guitars only appear at the song’s outro. On “Tonight,” frontman Thomas Mars trades vocal duties with Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, who is the band’s first guest singer in their 20-plus year history. It’s the strongest track Phoenix have made in the past decade, and really shows off each member’s strengths. Deck D’Arcy’s bassline dominates this track, while Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai’s guitar parts will sound familiar to anyone who’s listened to the band’s breakthrough album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Mars and Koenig sing with real passion, especially when their voices unite for the line “are you still up thinking of me?” This track alone makes Alpha Zulu worth a listen.
The remainder of Alpha Zulu is less of a departure from Phoenix’s now well-established sound, although there’s greater emphasis on their electronic side. “After Midnight” combines glitzy synths with guitars that sound straight out of Comedown Machine-era Strokes. “The Only One” contrasts its somewhat minimal verses with choruses that throw in a glut of drum machine effects, almost making up for its overly repetitive lyrics. Later on the album, “My Elixir” follows the frantic “All Eyes on Me” with a mild tone that could have been made by Metronomy, and is underwhelming compared to the rest of the album. More positively, a guitar beautifully complements Mars’ vocals on the chorus of “Artefact,” and is another album standout. Some of these aren’t all that far off from what made it onto Ti Amo, but Alpha Zulu is easily a more ambitious album.
If there were a downside to Alpha Zulu, it would be that the album is front loaded with its best material, and often retreats back to tried-and-true Phoenix after its more adventurous fare. I’ll also admit to not remembering almost any of its lyrics after multiple listens, but these have never been all that central to appreciating Phoenix’s songs. I mean, can you honestly sing along to their hits “Lisztomania” or “1901?” Tracks fun enough to get lost in like this abound on Alpha Zulu, and that should be good enough to keep Phoenix going.
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