Bankrupt!
Phoenix
Distributed by V2/Loyauté/Glassnote
In every tight group of friends, you can usually find a go-to album or playlist. In spite of varying taste or interest in music, there is typically one sound that pleases everybody. In high school, that album for me and my friends was Phoenix’s 2009 pop masterpiece Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The album brought an adept sense of songwriting together with dreamy, grandiose production and a healthy amount of experimentation that has yet to wear thin on me.
When I first heard Phoenix’s first single from their new album Bankrupt! I immediately began holding my breath, and I knew I would be until I heard the album in full. The song, “Entertainment,” was very good, although singles are often very misleading. Would long-time fans of Phoenix be rewarded for their wait, or forever cursed to avoid Bankrupt! as a flaw in a steadily improving discography?
As soon as I sat down and listened to Bankrupt! in full, I exhaled. It lived up to the hype.
The album leads with the single, “Entertainment,” and actually builds up from that point. The second track, “The Real Thing” features a chorus of screaming guitars, and Thomas Mars’ immediately recognizable vocals soaring high above the track.
In the next track, “S.O.S. in Bel Air,” it is clear that the album is making use of a thicker production style than on the previous album. Each instrument is given plenty of room to breathe in harmony, often coming to brilliant crescendos. Although I am a fan of many current lo-fi acts, I found this clean and calculated approach to pop refreshing. One of Phoenix’s greatest strengths has always been their ability to not indebt themselves to a specific scene or feel like a throwback to any era. The music feels like it belongs to the listener, at any place or time they want.
The album is solid from start to finish, and even includes some interesting experimentation (the album’s centerpiece, “Bankrupt!,” sounds like it could have been crafted by some sort of synth-drone band). The songwriting holds up to the bar that Phoenix has set on previous records, and their sound has progressed. Bankrupt! is the first album of the year I feel comfortable saying that I absolutely love, and I would recommend it to any music fan.
