Phoenix

Phoenix fuses new wave, synth pop, soft rock, and funk through sleek production that leans electronic, yielding melodies every bit as refined as the band’s overall aesthetic. Within the French electronic landscape of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Parisians stood apart for their devotion to timeless songcraft; their 2000 debut United spotlighted the irresistible track “Too Young” and enlisted input from Daft Punk members plus Cassius’ Philippe Zdar. Refinements on the polished 2004 release Alphabetical and the guitar-forward 2006 set It’s Never Been Like That set the stage for the Grammy-winning 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, whose singles “Lisztomania” and “1901” elevated the group’s profile dramatically. After that breakthrough, the musicians kept pushing forward, exploring bolder experimentation on the 2013 Victoires de la Musique recipient Bankrupt! and shaping atmospheric, sensual pieces for 2017’s Ti Amo. With 2022’s Alpha Zulu they marked a third decade by returning to compact, sharply focused pop craft.

The band emerged from a suburban Paris garage group that featured vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d’Arcy, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai. Those schoolmates began collaborating in 1989; when guitarist Laurent Brancowitz’s project Darlin’ dissolved in 1995, he joined his younger brother, completing the lineup. Early gigs on the French club circuit mixed Hank Williams and Prince covers. Adopting the name Phoenix in 1997, they issued the debut single “Party Time/City Lights” on their own Ghettoblaster imprint—an A-side infused with punk energy paired with a motorik B-side that already signaled wide-ranging tastes. Soon afterward Source Records, based in Paris, signed them. Phoenix served as the live backing unit for labelmates Air during several U.K. television spots, while their initial Source singles, notably 1999’s “Heatwave,” revealed disco and electronic influences shaping their sound. In 2000 “Too Young” became their first chart entry, peaking at number 97 in France and 148 in the U.K.; that June the full-length United arrived. Guest spots from Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter (a former Darlin’ colleague of Brancowitz), Cassius’ Philippe Zdar, and d’Arcy’s mother’s choral society helped earn praise for the blend of classic songwriting and refined production. United reached number 90 on the French album chart and yielded the French and Italian top-ten hit “If I Ever Feel Better,” while “Too Young” also surfaced in the soundtracks of Lost in Translation and Shallow Hal.

Work on a follow-up began in 2003. Released the next March, Alphabetical tightened the group’s ’70s and ’80s pop and R&B leanings and extended United’s reach, climbing to number 41 in France and registering on charts in Sweden, Germany, Japan, Norway, and elsewhere. Singles “Run Run Run” and “Everything” enjoyed notable radio exposure, and a Hedi Slimane-commissioned remix of album track “Victim of the Crime” appeared in one of the designer’s Dior Homme runway presentations. Phoenix mounted an extensive tour supporting the record; the 2004 document Live! Thirty Days Ago captured performances from their Scandinavian dates. By mid-2005 the musicians were tracking their third album at Berlin’s Planet Roc. Issued the following May, It’s Never Been Like That favored guitars more than either predecessor yet still achieved critical and commercial success, peaking at number 34 in France and marking the band’s first appearance on the U.S. and U.K. charts.

After extensive European and American touring behind It’s Never Been Like That, Phoenix paused while Mars and partner Sofia Coppola focused on family life. The musicians reconvened in 2008 with Cult of Luna drummer Thomas Hedlund to record at Zdar’s Motorbass studio in Paris. March 2009 brought the compilation Kitsuné Tabloid, a selection of tracks by key influences including Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, and Roxy Music. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix followed in May and proved their commercial breakthrough; sleek, hook-driven cuts such as the singles “1901” and “Lisztomania” propelled the album into France’s top 20 and charts in thirteen additional territories. Certifications reached gold status in Australia, Canada, and the U.S., with silver awarded in the U.K. A remix collection featuring contributions from Passion Pit, Friendly Fires, Young Fathers, and Chairlift surfaced in October 2009. Early the next year the album earned the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. Touring continued deep into 2010, encompassing Coachella, Reading, and Leeds, plus a guest slot with Daft Punk at Madison Square Garden; Antoine Wagner and Francisco Soriano’s film From a Mess to the Masses chronicled those shows.

Late in 2010 Phoenix tracked material at Adam Yauch’s Oscilloscope Laboratories in New York, deliberately shifting toward experimentation after the gloss of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Sessions resumed in Paris the following year and wrapped in 2012 under Zdar’s co-production; final mixes used the same console employed for Michael Jackson’s Thriller. The resulting Bankrupt! emerged in April 2013. Balancing experimental impulses with accessible pop, the album entered the top five in four countries, including France and the U.S., and received the Rock Album of the Year prize at the 2014 Victoires de la Musique. Following extensive 2013 roadwork, the band began their sixth album in 2014, pausing to appear in Coppola’s Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas. Largely captured inside a former opera house repurposed as museum, concert venue, and tech incubator, 2017’s Ti Amo distilled the exuberance of Italian disco and summer into a pointed counterstatement to the political and social tensions of the period. It reached France’s top 20 and top-40 positions in multiple other markets. That same year Phoenix partnered with Japanese brewery Tatenokawa Inc. on the Phoenix Sake Collection, a series of sakes honoring their late friend and restaurateur Toshiro Kuroda.

In 2019 the group issued the oral history Liberté, Égalité, Phoenix!, drawn from their personal archives and timed to their 30th anniversary as a band, the 20th anniversary of United, and the tenth anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The following August they released “Identical,” featured in Coppola’s film On the Rocks and topping Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart. An extended version appeared on the November 2022 album Alpha Zulu. Recorded inside a Louvre Palace studio during the COVID-19 pandemic, the set partly reflected the loss of Zdar, who had died in 2019. Additional singles included the chart-topping “Alpha Zulu” and “Tonight,” a collaboration with Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig.