“1901”
from the album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2009
iTunes
Phoenix have come out with all the details of their majestically titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which now has a release date, tracklisting, and a label.
For the U.S. (and we assume Canada), this follow-up to 2006’s It’s Never Been Like That will touch down on May 26 via little-known label Glassnote. For the rest of the world, Phoenix will handle the release on their own and put it out on the band’s newly minted Loyaute imprint on May 25. So, yes, this does mean the French popsters have finally freed themselves from Virgin’s clutches.
Wolfgang was recorded last year and features Philippe Zdar of French house outfit Cassius co-producing. It also is supposedly “fast and intense,” evokes the energetic sprit of the group’s 2000 debut, United, and is anchored by the two-part ambient epic “Love Like a Sunset.”
Album track “1901” has already surfaced online and Exclaim’s Cam Lindsay said in his recent Click Hear column: “‘1901’ definitely utilizes electronics the way they did in their earlier days, opening with a farting synth that’s very French touch. But if anything, I feel this is still moving along the same path of Phoenix’s last disc, It’s Never Been Like That, with the high note Strokes-like guitar strums and the overall soft-rockness of their sound.”