Summary

The author expresses deep appreciation for Phoenix's latest album, 'Alpha Zulu,' considering it a long-awaited return to form akin to their beloved 2009 release, 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.'

Abstract

The article is a review of Phoenix's 2022 album 'Alpha Zulu,' written by an author who has been a fan of the band since discovering their hit single "1901" from the 2009 album 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.' The author was underwhelmed by the band's subsequent releases, 'Bankrupt!' and 'Ti Amo,' but 'Alpha Zulu' has rekindled their enthusiasm. The review highlights the author's immediate connection with the title track and several other songs on the album, including "Tonight" featuring Ezra Koenig, "After Midnight," "Season 2," and "Artefact." The author praises the album's consistent quality and the band's ability to recapture the essence of their earlier work, awarding 'Alpha Zulu' 4.5 out of 5 stars and expressing a renewed interest in revisiting the band's previous albums.

Opinions

The author has a strong personal connection to Phoenix's music, especially their 2009 album 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.'
'Bankrupt!' and 'Ti Amo,' the albums released after 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,' did not meet the author's expectations and were largely ignored by them after initial disappointment.
'Alpha Zulu' is celebrated for its catchy songs and is compared favorably to the band's earlier hit album.
The author was pleasantly surprised by the collaboration with Ezra Koenig on the song "Tonight," which led to a newfound interest in Koenig's band, Vampire Weekend.
"After Midnight" is highlighted as the author's current favorite track on the album, with its music reminiscent of the style found in 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.'
The song "Season 2" is noted for its unexpected use of the phrase "giddy-up," contributing to its fun and engaging nature.
"Artefact" is praised for its simple yet clever lyrics and exceptional keyboard playing.
The author admits to possibly undervaluing the band's previous two albums and plans to revisit them with a fresh perspective.
'Alpha Zulu' is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars by the author, signifying its status as a standout album in Phoenix's discography.
The article concludes with the author encouraging readers to join Medium for full access to their content, indicating a vested interest in reader engagement and support for the platform.

‘Alpha Zulu’ Is the Phoenix Album I’ve Been Waiting 13 Years For

My review of Phoenix’s 2022 album ‘Alpha Zulu’

Front cover art of the ‘Alpha Zulu’ album. Image source: Glassnote Records

Phoenix is a French pop-rock band that was formed in 1995. I first discovered them in 2009, shortly after the release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which was their fourth studio album. The first time I heard the band was when I saw them on a television show performing “1901,” the lead single from the album. I instantly loved the song and I bought the album soon afterward.

By the way, if you don’t recognize “1901” from its title, I encourage you to hit the ‘play’ button on the music video below. The song has been used in dozens of TV commercials, movies, and television series since its release. I bet you’ll recognize the music within less than 10 seconds.

I devoured the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album and played it almost non-stop for most of 2009. There isn’t a song on it that I don’t love. I’d go so far as to say that the album is high up on my ‘Top 10 Favorite Albums of the 21st Century’ list.

Phoenix’s next album was Bankrupt!, which was released in 2013. While I thought it had a few good songs on it, the album didn’t impress me the way that I wanted it to. I can say the same thing about the band’s 2017 album, Ti Amo.

It’s not that those albums weren’t good. They were. I just didn’t think they were anywhere near as great as Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was. As a result, because I didn’t love those follow-up albums when I first heard them, I’ve pretty much ignored them since they were released.

It’s funny how that kind of thing happens so often with music lovers, isn’t it? They fall so deeply in love with one album from an artist, that everything else the artist releases after it sort of pales in comparison to that album they loved — and then the listeners end up feeling kind of disappointed.

I think two other good examples of this kind of thing happening are the album releases from the bands Weezer and The Killers. While both acts have certainly remained successful since their debut albums, a lot of their fans (myself included) feel that those first albums from them were the best albums those bands ever released. A lot of us like (and maybe even love) some of the later albums from those bands — but nowhere near as much as we loved their fantastic debut albums.

But Weezer and The Killers are different stories for a future time. Let’s get back to Phoenix now.

Alpha Zulu, the band’s seventh studio album, was released on November 4, 2022. I discovered it on Spotify that morning and decided to listen to it right away. However, because I’d been disappointed in their last couple of albums, I went into it with sort of low expectations and feared that it might disappoint me as the others had.

But then I listened to the first song on the album, which is the title cut:

Alpha Zulu

It quickly grabbed ahold of me with its great music and very catchy-sounding lines in its chorus:

Woo ha! Singing Hallelujah! Run for your life Cover your eyes Alphazulu Hey, hey!

It was ‘love at first listen’ for me! I then headed into the second song:

Tonight (featuring Ezra Koenig)

Wait a second.

What was happening here?

Was I getting knocked off of my feet by both of the first two songs on the new Phoenix album?

Why, yes. Yes, I was! I loved this song just as much as I loved the first one.

I had no idea who Ezra Koenig was, though. Well, other than that I already knew that the band Better Than Ezra from the 1990s was better than him.

But everyone knew that, right?

It’s all good!

But seriously, folks…

A quick Google search showed me that Ezra Koenig is the lead singer, guitarist, and main songwriter of the band Vampire Weekend. I don’t currently know anything by them, but I love how Ezra Koenig sounds on this song with Phoenix, so I’m going to check out their music very soon.

After the above song, Alpha Zulu continued with one great song after another. I was getting Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix-type vibes from it and was loving everything I was hearing!

It’s been four days since I first heard the album, and I’ve played it multiple times since then. Here are three more of my favorite songs from it:

After Midnight

At the current moment, though this is likely to change, “After Midnight” is my favorite song on the album. The music in it reminds me a little bit of the music on the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album. This song would have fit in perfectly on that one.

Season 2

One of the last things I’d expect from a French band would be for them to use the word “giddy-up” multiple times in a song. But Phoenix does it over and over again here and it works perfectly. It’s a very fun song with great lyrics and wonderful music in it.

Artefact

I don’t have much to say about this song, other than that I love the simple, yet still quite clever, lyrics in it. Also, the keyboard playing in it is exceptional.

It’s just a darned good song!

It and all of the other darned good songs on the Alpha Zulu album were co-written by the members of Phoenix: Deck d’Arcy, Laurent Brancowitz, Thomas Mars, and Christian Mazzalai. The lyrics I shared from the song “Alpha Zulu” can be found here on Musixmatch.com.

And here’s the entire Alpha Zulu album on Spotify. My rating of the album and my closing thoughts about it can be found below the playlist.

I think Alpha Zulu is an incredibly solid album without any bad songs on it. It is, by far, my favorite Phoenix album since Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix in 2009.

In the band’s defense, I probably never gave the two albums between that album and this new album the full chances that they each deserved. After all, some music can take a little while to grow on you. I’ll revisit those albums soon and give them another try.

As for Alpha Zulu, out of five possible stars, I give the album…drumroll, please…4 and 1/2 stars!

NOTE: This album is #68 in a ‘100 New-To Me Albums in 2022’ challenge I’m participating in. Please click here if you’d like to see the other albums on my list.

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