Album Review: Cross by Justice (2007)

Introduction:

An album I've had on (modified) loop recently is the debut Cross, by French electronica act Justice. Though newcomers to the genre might find their sound hard to distinguish from more "mainstream" groups like Daft Punk (also great), they've carved out a few unique sounds for themselves.

At times more structured and well-oiled than the average dance tracks, Justice can sound almost orchestral in precision and voicing (heavy use of brass and occasional string sounds). On the other hand, tracks like D.A.N.C.E and DVNO are as gaudy, organic and vocally-driven as popular 90's club hits.

Tracks:

1. Genesis: The opener begins with an ominous melody, setting a strong tone for the album. What follows is 3 minutes of the best organized electronic music I've ever heard. Very orchestral in structure, loops weave in an out of each other with machine-like precision. Heavy bass lines and strong, sometimes harsh rhythms bring a lot of energy despite relatively simple melodic lines. It really is a non-stop assault through, until a clean segue into the next track (the entire album flows like this, with no gaps between track, a feature I always appreciate). My favorite track of the album.

2. Let There Be Light: Similar in style, the second cut is certainly less harsh, though not necessarily less energetic. More focus on melodic changes, and intonation changes throughout the lines, though still a pretty ominous tone. Overall, a bouncier, more dance appropriate track. Some great rhythmic hooks throughout.

3. D.A.N.C.E.: A completely different style here! A bubbly, bouncy, extremely catchy dance track. Vocals sound straight out of the early Jackson 5 materials, fitting nicely with the much more upbeat chord sounds and melody. This was the first single released off the album, and it's easy to see why, the track was made for the dance hall.

4. Newjack: Returns to the instrumentation of the first two tracks, with an addition vocal loop or two. Remains more towards the "happy" side of your average tone spectrum. A little more subdued than the first two tracks (which attacked), the track gets points for a few radical melody/rhythm changes to keep things interesting.

5,6. Phantom Pt. I/Pt. II: Two more really solid vocal-free tracks. A nice laid-back organic, almost fuzzy style to these sounds. A little more repetitive (individually) then some of the other cuts, sticking with subtle changes in progression rather than more drastic changes. It makes for a great progression of an idea, as new layers are added and moved around. Pt. II is a little darker and more powerful, with a really sick melodic line.

7. Valentine: Beginning with a nice little "heartbeat" motif, this is definitely a more emotional, melody-centric piece. Two or three nice melodic and bass lines weave through out without a lot of complicated percussion. At times soothing, at times a little depressing, at times hopeful and inspiring. A really nice piece that I bet a lot of people skip over, because it's not much of a dance track, a departure from the previous songs.

8. Tthhee Ppaarrttyy: One of the most vocal songs on the track, mostly sing-talk style, not quite rapping, but certainly not traditional song. An interesting melodic riff sits amongst generally lo-fi instrumentation for much of the song. Unfortunately, the lyrics nearly ruin this song, narrating the night of a snobby, rich girl going out to party with some friends. It's hard to enjoy the music beneath the visions of the annoying girl, making this my least favorite track.

9. DVNO: The other heavily vocal song, DVNO was much better, in my opinion. Often almost nonsensical, but catchy lyrics about a club (DVNO) make this song funny, and hearken back to bad music videos and 70's and 80's dance clubs (see the music video). Very catchy, poppy, bouncy beat makes this a great track, somehow using artificial clapping sounds in a way I enjoy. Really a much simpler song than it seems on a first listen.

10. Stress: My (close) second favorite cut on the album, Stress is a real experiment. The music reflects the title well, in this high-energy, fast tempo, very cycle based instrumental track. Really interesting combinations of short loops of sound, quickly repeating simple beats, and dissonant chord structures. The intro section seems to go on forever, building up a huge amount of tension, which makes for the best resolution on the album, about a minute and a half into the track. The machine gets back to work right away, building up pressure again. A real treat.

11. Waters of Nazareth: A very solid track, released previously as a single/EP, and well known in the dance circuit since 2006. Probably the most "standard" of their tracks (for the genre), but quite well executed. I didn't find it too inspiring, likely because I've heard similar things in other groups.

12. One Minute to Midnight: The closer is a very stripped down pieces, fitting with it's place in the album. You can hear bits of the album tied up in here, some chords from Phantom, bits of sound/instrumentation from Stress, and melodic lines similar to Newjack, and Tthhee Ppaarrttyy. Again, subdued and simple, but the payoff is in the connection to the rest of the album.

Conclusions:

Overall, the album is put together extremely well (as an album), and a number of tracks stand out in the genre (Genesis and Stress) for me. I loop this, dropping out Tthhee Ppaarrttyy, for hours at a time, and it grows on me more and more. Great for listening to when working or driving, or at a party (if your friends like this kind of music). Even for friends who mostly listen outside the genre, a track here and there will be well received (D.A.N.C.E. and Waters of Nazareth, the singles, are good here).

Score:

Cross - Justice
93/100