How Phoenix's Latest Album Provided Relief From Some Terrible Times

Fabulous French indie pop-rock act Phoenix are about to release their sixth album, Ti Amo. The record is a joyous ride into fun, funky pop heaven, and frontman Thomas Mars, speaking from New York City, uses a very interesting analogy to sum up how the new opus differs from their previous releases.

"When a kid draws a picture, it's always beautiful, it's always innocent," he explains, "then, when an adult tries to re-create a kid's picture, it won't have that innocence, you can tell it's an adult. So, like some of the artists that I love, who manage to take the best of the adult world and still be a child. So that's what we're trying to do, streamline, and go back to something that's very simple. There's actually a lot in it but it looks and sounds simple."

"The place was dark and full of angst, but here we were in the studio making this hedonistic, joyful simple music."

For Mars, the creating of the album and the music itself provided a strong contrast and some relief from the terrible things that were going on across their home country at the time. In fact, in some ways the album was actually a product of those times. "We felt a little disconnected from what was going on in France at that time," he recalls. "The place was dark and full of angst, but here we were in the studio making this hedonistic, joyful simple music.

"At the same time, it makes sense that you would make such an album in those times. Musicians tend to write the best songs when they are heartbroken. You're in opposition to what's going on at the time."

So from hard times comes great art? "Yeah. Well, I hope so!" He laughs.

French pop, rock and metal music has become amazing in the last 10 or 15 years or so, although Mars acknowledges that it wasn't always that way. Again, he has a couple of interesting theories as to why it has turned around.

"The truth is, it wasn't always great," he admits, "we felt a little isolated, due to language barriers and so on, but now there is a generation of artists who can make music in their bedroom, with their own equipment. We felt the frustration of all these teenagers who couldn't make music before, but now the technology has followed.

"And when you come from France, whether you speak English or not, you tend to see things in a different way, we see things in our own way. There's a strong vision when it comes to bands that make music in France, and I don't think it comes from anyone else."

The band has a list of tour dates longer than guitar necks stretching out ahead of them, that takes them virtually up to the end of this year. At this point, Australia is not on that list, but Mars is confident that we will figure prominently in their plans next year. "Yes," he states, "I don't know exactly when, but I would say early next year. The sooner the better!"