I have to say, Phoenix embody the French mentality of slow life, averaging a new album every four years. It's been five years since their most recent album, the slow synth-laden Ti Amo, which I didn't enjoy. So where do we find them now?
Alpha Zulu is sonically somewhere between Ti Amo and their best album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. You won't be surprised to hear then; I consider Alpha Zulu a great deal better than Ti Amo but not as good as Wolfgang.
I can’t call it out, but keep callin’ you out loud
AZ is too inconsistent to love. It thunders for a few tracks at a time, only to be stopped by a drab number like Winter Solstice or My Elixir.
I really wish Phoenix tapped into their strengths more rather than experimenting with slow synth—which they're not very good at. They remind me of Death Cab for Cutie in terms of artistry. Like Death Cab, their best albums were their two back-to-back brother/sister albums—in this case, It's Never Been Like That and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix—in which they fully embraced their best qualities.
Phoenix are best at upbeat off-kilter jangly music. My case is made for me with the unexpected inclusion of Identical at the very end. This was a track they made for the film On The Rocks with Bill Murry. It's everything you could hope for on a Phoenix track—a looping hook that overshadows almost everything else on the album.
Phoenix return to form but stop short of replicating Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Still, it’s good to have them back.