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phoenix is a french band formed in 1995. the members, unchanged since then, are thomas mars, christian mazzalai, deck d'arcy, and laurent brancowitz. their sound has changed through the years but it can mainly be labeled as indie rock and synth-pop. they have released seven studio albums.
i found phoenix randomly in a french touch playlist around 2019. the first song i heard and that i was instantly obsessed with was "if i ever feel better", and i remember exploring more of their discography a while after. but i don't know exactly when it is that it transitioned from a band that i'd listen to ocassionally, to a band that constantly gives me so much happiness, that i could listen to endlessly, that means so much to me that its hard to put it into words. i've always mainly listened to noisy electronic music, so i really don't know why or how this indie/synthpop band ended up having such a big place in my heart and in my mind, but i am so grateful it did :3 I LOVE THIS BAND SO MUCH IM GONNA EXPLODE
album: bankrupt!
songs: chloroform, don't, oblique city, telefono, winter solstice, everything is everything (i am uncapable of choosing only one)
i've never felt this way towards any other band or musician ever... not only i absolutely love their music as a fan, but their authenticity, the effort and passion they put into everything they make, their love for music, and their unique and weird writing and composing methods inspire me to be a better artist as well. they have probably the most cryptic and sometimes nonsensical lyrics out of all of the artists i listen to, yet their music resonates with me in the most wonderful way. isnt that amazing... they don't really need to explicitly say something to transmit it because their music is so much more than that. they tell stories through melodies, sounds, visuals and synths, that each add something to whatever bigger concept they're exploring in each album. 
bankrupt! is my favorite, that album is SO precious to me. no matter how many times i listen to it still feels new and refreshing to hear, and at the same time it feels like a friend i've known for years... i get emotional only thinking about it LOL this synth pop band means so much to me u have no idea... did you know i saw them live and it was the best fucking day of my life i'll talk about it more later...
did u know the lead singer is married to sofia coppola... she was in the crowd in this show and he's singing to her 
one thing i love about phoenix's discography is how each one of their albums is sort of a response to the one before it. i want to talk about my favorite example in which i think this is very clear, and that's bankrupt and ti amo!
the way i personally interpret it, bankrupt is about dealing with insecurities, loneliness, jealousy, and misunderstandings. the production is noisy, loud, synthetic, overcompressed, saturated and over the top, which is one of the aspects i love the most about it. it doesn't try to be perfect and it feels like the only thing it cares about is getting its message across, through any means possible. (to think that a lot of people hate this album because it's "overproduced"... YOU DON'T GET ITTT!!) it has so much to say and it's so openly emotional that it almost feels like listening to someone vent, or catching up with someone who is telling you about their life and how things have not been going as well as they used to some years ago. it does have a slightly positive tone surfacing every once in a while however, as if they were confident that not all hope is lost as long as they're not alone, and that it's a feeling that will pass soon. did i mention its my favorite
ti amo, released 4 years later, is a complete 180 and it's about loving someone so much that you don't care about anything else. it's about obsessions (healthy and unhealthy ones), longing, infatuation, and finding confidence, freedom and happiness in being with the one you love. it's so romantic, careless and sweet in every way, as you can tell by the 80s pop syntheziser sounds and the mellow lyrics and vocals. parts of the lyrics are in italian, french and spanish, which all contribute to making you feel like you're on a trip overseas with the love of your life. at the same time, i think there's more to it than just that. mainly in some of the latter songs, among all of the sweetness, it gets a litle bitter: what happens when you're alone again, or apart from your partner? are you still so confident and careless? what happens when you're not being constantly reassured? it's kinda like the two albums are in an infinite loop...
liberté, égalité, phoenix!
please take a look at my GORGEOUS beautiful book... just having this in my hands makes me SO DAMN HAPPYY 
in 2019 phoenix released a book called "liberté, égalité, phoenix" and it's basically them narrating the whole story of the band, from when they were kids until the release of "ti amo", with each chapter dedicated to a different album.
i cannot explain how blessed i feel for being able to read the story about how my favorite albums in the world were made. i still havent gotten to the bankrupt chapter and i get chills only thinking about it LOL (i might have to update this yet again when i do...) reading this book really made me appreciate their work, and each album, even more. suddenly it all has much more depth, when i remember how much work it takes to make a piece of art such as an album, and how deeply influenced it is by the things happening in your life. now i cant help but smile when i listen to "united" and think about these french dudes living in an absolute mess of an apartment, trying to make music unlike anything else anyone had heard before.
its funny how i'm always saying that this band is much more than what it looks like at first glance for people who never heard of them (just a bunch of 40-something european dudes making indie rock) but i realized that not even I was aware of how cool they are LOL. their musical influences, their unseriousness when it comes to formalities in the music industry, their way of living when they were younger... it makes you realize that their music is so them. their art is so representative of what they are and what they love because they don't care about anything else. it's so wonderful. and the coolest thing ever to me!!
I SAW THEM LIVE AND IT WAS THE BEST FUCKING DAY OF MY LIFE!!
volume warning + flashing lights! 
