Alpha Zulu
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''Alpha Zulu'' is the seventh
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by French
indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...
band Phoenix, released on 4 November 2022 through Loyauté and
Glassnote Records Glassnote Records (also known as Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC) is a record label that was launched by American music executive Daniel Glass in 2007. The label primarily has a lineup of indie rock and alternative rock artists, most notably ...
. Self-produced by the band, it is their first album since 2017's ''
Ti Amo "Ti amo" (; Italian for "I love you") is a 1977 song recorded by Italian singer Umberto Tozzi from the album ''È nell'aria...ti amo''. It achieved success at the time, becoming a hit in many European countries, including Sweden and Switzerlan ...
''. The singles "Identical", "Alpha Zulu", "
Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...
", and "Winter Solstice" preceded the album. The band embarked on a tour in support of the album, which visited North America, the UK and Europe in late 2022, with another tour of North America that commenced in August 2023. The album received critical acclaim.


Background and recording

Phoenix began recording the album during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
in 2020 at the Musée des Arts décoratifs studio, which is located within the
Louvre Palace The Louvre Palace (, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxe ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Laurent Brancowitz said the band "felt it would be a fantastic adventure to create something out of nothing" in an empty museum. Christian Mazzalai said that despite his initial concerns of making something while being surrounded by "too much beauty", the band "couldn't stop producing music" and that they wrote "almost all" of ''Alpha Zulu'' within the first 10 days. The album was inspired by Philippe Zdar of the band Cassius, who died in 2019. Zdar produced three of Phoenix's prior albums and gave advice to the band regularly, even on records he did not produce. While contributing no actual compositions or productions to the album,
Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, alongside Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. He has recorded and released music as a member of the trio Music S ...
of
Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...
was asked by the band to help in the same advisory role. The song "Identical" was first released in 2020 on the soundtrack for
Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola ( , ; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has List of awards and nominations received by Sofia Coppola, won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Golden Lion, and a Can ...
's film '' On the Rocks''. Following the song's release, frontman
Thomas Mars Thomas Pablo Croquet (born 21 November 1976), known professionally as Thomas Mars, is a French musician and the lead singer of the French indie pop band Phoenix. Early life Thomas Pablo Croquet was born on 21 November 1976 in Versailles, Fran ...
stated that it "goes in a different sonic direction from the LP", which feels "all over the place" and like the "same sort of weird Frankenstein of an album" that the band's debut '' United'' is. The version of "Identical" released in 2020 has a duration of 3:13, while the listed length of the ''Alpha Zulu'' version is 5:02.


Artwork and title

Pascal Teixeira's cover art for ''Alpha Zulu'' and accompanying singles is an edited portion of the 1478 painting ''Madonna col Bambino mediante otto angeli'' by
Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...
. The inspiration for the title came from Mars hearing "alpha zulu" over an airplane radio during a bout of turbulence. The words come from the ICAO alphabet, also known as the
NATO phonetic alphabet The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or simply the Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear-code words for communicating the letters of the Latin/Roman ...
; Alpha would phonetically be used for the letter A, and Zulu for the letter Z.


Promotion

Phoenix toured North America during September and October 2022 to promote the album. They performed at the
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on 9 September 2022. They also appeared and performed on several late night talk shows including ''
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...
'' and ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...
''. Phoenix toured Europe in late 2022 and will tour Asia and make festival appearances across the world in 2023. Phoenix toured North America with
Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
from August to September 2023 on the Summer Odyssey Tour, which visited 20 cities.


Critical reception

On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, ''Alpha Zulu'' received a score of 84 out of 100 based on 16 critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Helen Brown of ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' felt that the album "is packed with an impressive amount of energy and ideas for a band celebrating their 25th anniversary" and "all 10 tracks are stacked with hooks, making it as good as their 2009 breakthrough album, ''
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix ''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'' is the fourth studio album by French band Phoenix, it was released on 25 May 2009 through V2 Records, Loyauté, Glassnote, and Cooperative Music. While the band's previous work enjoyed a moderate underground follo ...
''". Writing for ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', Thomas Smith called it an album "that further confirms their place as one of the scene's most consistently enjoyable bands" with "nods to the razor-sharp pop hits from their beginnings ('If I Ever Feel Better'), to the indie-disco bangers that preceded their era of early '10s indie" like " 1901" and "
Lisztomania Lisztomania or Liszt fever was the intense fan frenzy directed toward Hungarian composer Franz Liszt during his performances. This frenzy first occurred in Berlin in 1841 and the term was later coined by Heinrich Heine in a feuilleton he wrote o ...
". Concluding the album review for
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, Heather Phares claimed it to be "Phoenix's most immediate work since ''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'' and their most varied since '' United'', ''Alpha Zulu'' does indeed range from A to Z, but the band are always in control and the results are frequently brilliant." David Smyth of the ''
Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
'' wrote that "With a sound that has never dated, there's plenty more here to confirm that there's no reason why Phoenix should stop doing what they're doing now." Charles Lyons-Burt of ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
'' described the album as "deceptively simple, fleet pop for which the band is best known" and found that "the band favors needling synths and skittering drum machines over the crisp guitars and live percussion of their earlier efforts". Writing for '' Paste'', Grant Sharples found ''Alpha Zulu'' to be "rife with contradictions and anomalies, but that makes it entertaining", concluding that "Within its first two tracks, ''Alpha Zulu'' establishes itself as an album that defies taxonomy. The result is as jarring as it is rapturous." Alex Hudson of ''
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
'' found that "Much like 2017's ''
Ti Amo "Ti amo" (; Italian for "I love you") is a 1977 song recorded by Italian singer Umberto Tozzi from the album ''È nell'aria...ti amo''. It achieved success at the time, becoming a hit in many European countries, including Sweden and Switzerlan ...
'', ''Alpha Zulu'' has a romantic warmth that transcends lyrics, which evade interpretation", opining that "Phoenix in 2022 sound pretty much identical to how they did at the peak of their powers" and ultimately calling it "an album that often feels like a trip back to the aughts". Reviewing the album for ''
The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...
'', Simon Heavisides found that it "confronts reality with a dreamy neon-lit elegance pulsing with playful vitality" and "runs on its nerves but has its feet on the dance floor". Annabel Ross of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' summarised the album as "slightly less consistent than their earlier efforts and not quite as adventurous as ''United'', but still plenty charming". ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
''s Brady Brickner-Wood wrote that Phoenix's "euphoric synth rock sounds as good as it ever has, the songs gushing with renewed enthusiasm and glittery production", describing ''Alpha Zulu'' as "a fun, fizzy record that'll undoubtedly find a home on strobe-lit dancefloors across the world". Writing for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', Michelle Kambasha judged that the album "sounds distinctly like one of theirs, yet they're still a bunch of wide-eyed eccentrics, looking to marry what-would-be-ordinary pop with the unconventional", concluding that it is "a robust addition to their already acclaimed catalogue".


Track listing


Personnel

Phoenix * Deck d'Arcy – bass, keyboards * Laurent Brancowitz – guitars, keyboards *
Thomas Mars Thomas Pablo Croquet (born 21 November 1976), known professionally as Thomas Mars, is a French musician and the lead singer of the French indie pop band Phoenix. Early life Thomas Pablo Croquet was born on 21 November 1976 in Versailles, Fran ...
– vocals * Christian Mazzalai – guitars Additional musicians * David Grosman – drums, percussion *
Ezra Koenig Ezra Michael Koenig ( ; born April 8, 1984) is an American musician, record producer, and radio personality. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Additionally, Koenig is the creator of the ...
– vocals ("Tonight") * Thomas Hedlund – additional drums and percussion ("After Midnight") * Rob – additional keyboards ("All Eyes on Me") Production * Ian Kirkpatrick – additional production ("Alpha Zulu") *
Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...
mixing * Joe LaPortamastering * Zach Pereyra – mixing assistant * Anthony Vilchis – mixing assistant * Trey Station – mixing assistant * Louis Bes – recording assistant * Matt DiMona –
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
* Kyle Parker Smith – engineer * Robin Florent – additional engineering * Jack Lahana – additional engineering * Pierrick Devin – recording engineer ("Identical") * Antoine Peyton – engineering assistance ("Identical") * Daniel Berglund – recording of additional drums and percussion ("After Midnight") * Ariel Rechtshaid – recording of Ezra Koenig's vocals ("Tonight") Design * Pascal Teixeira – art direction and cover design * Liz Hirsch – layout and design


Charts


References

{{Phoenix 2022 albums Albums impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Glassnote Records albums Phoenix (band) albums