French electronic duo Justice are finally back after what feels like an eternity since their groundbreaking debut album, Cross, released in 2007. Known for their unique blend of rock-infused techno/electro/evenalittlebitofdisco, Justice’s sound has been consistently impressive and hard to imitate. But the question remains: can they maintain the same high level of excellence with their new album ‘Hyperdrama’?
Back in 2007, when the debut album Cross first dropped, this reviewer was doing his A-Levels – and could hardly move for this album. Soundtracking everything from amateur dramatic sequences to somehow being shoehorned in amongst the less impressive and inventive electronic and club music scene at the time, (listen, it’s a weird song to be bookended by Wiley on one side, and Lil’ Jon on another at 2am) it was utterly inescapable. Critics certainly seemed to think so too. Although praise has been regular for the duo’s subsequent releases, they’ve never quite reached the same heights – but with new album ‘Hyperdrama’ will they taste their own former glory again?
If you are understandably more familiar with their breakout debut, this album may not be what you’re expecting. It lacks the grit and leans more heavily into the funk and disco side of their sound. Track ‘One Night/All Night’ for example seemingly throws a funk song and a disco song together in the aim to make something better than the sum of its parts – whether it succeeds is up to the listener – this one isn’t too convinced.
Justice themselves have even stated that on the track ‘Incognito’ that they ‘had to forget everything they knew about song structure’. The duo may have found this fun, and is a great exercise in experimentation, but as with anything with experimental hovering round your musical genre, it won’t always stick the landing with your typical listeners.
There is also a fair amount of collaboration on the album, and where there isn’t, there is some noticeable influence from other frontrunners in the electro-scene. Tame Impala feature twice, once on the aforementioned ‘One Night/All Night’ and again on opening track ‘Neverender’. Both tracks are decent in fairness, so long as you like Tame Impala. As with so many collaborations, and something fast becoming a pet peeve for this reviewer, is that the collaborating artist ends up carrying the track, and it may as well become one of their own. I’m not here for Tame Impala.
Although not a featured artist (for obvious reasons, as they’re no longer together), Daft Punk’s influence can be heard a mile away on tracks like Dear Alan, which has clearly coloured the album. But realistically, why wouldn’t it when they’re both revered electronic musical duos from the same country?
In fairness, my own griping aside. There’s some good stuff lurking around this album. Generator is the closest thing to a ‘Cross’ track that you’ll find, plenty of darkness and something closer to the grit that gave them such an explosive entrance to the charts. I’m also a fan of the sheer volume of slap bass on the album to really lean into the funk element. Something Justice were no doubt aware of when they opted to have Thundercat feature on the closing track of the album – the living king of slap bass to the uninitiated.
Which brings us to our own close. Realistically, there’s nothing wrong with this album. There isn’t a bad track on here, and trying to measure up to the success of their debut probably wasn’t going to happen if they didn’t try to break the mould with something that managed to sound distinct, but also new. Unfortunately for Justice, they just didn’t seem to quite manage it this time (or the other albums, post-Cross). Hopefully they’ll try again, and maybe we won’t need to wait quite so long for the next attempt. Bonne Chance!
Author: Tom, Cardiff Store
