Justice – ‘One Night/All Night’ // ‘Generator’
Hold on tight! After a week or so of not-so-cryptic teasing, French electro behemoths Justice have officially announced their new album Hyperdrama, simultaneously dropping not one but two lead tracks which have landed with a resounding THUD.
‘One Night/All Night’ and ‘Generator’ are the tantalising first glimpses at the Parisian duos first LP in eight years. In with an early shout for collaboration of the year, the former features ubiquitous psych-pop talisman Tame Impala; with Kevin Parkers unmistakable falsetto vocals soaring over funky basslines and cosmic synths the likes of which defined Justice’s previous album ‘Woman’ back in 2016.
The duo say of the track: “We wanted this track to sound as if a dark/techno iteration of Justice had found a sample of a disco iteration of Kevin Parker. Kevin has a sense of melody that’s fascinating in the sense that he manages to write melodies that feel both simple and natural, but very peculiar at the same time. This song oscillates between pure electronic music and pure disco but you never really get the two at the same time. This very idea of switching instantly from a genre to another within a song runs through the whole record, and is maybe showcased the clearest in ‘One Night/All Night’.
Hammering home that sense of sonic juxtaposition, ‘Generator’ is a brain-rattling hard-techno thumper more akin to 2007’s debut release ‘†’ (Cross). This rave-ready meatgrinder of a track in all honesty (and in the very best way) could have slipped surreptitiously in to fellow French producer Gesaffelstein’s discography but will please fans of the darker, brooding industrial formula that made early works like ‘Genesis’ and ‘Waters of Nazareth’ so popular.
Justice said: “To us, this one sounds like “Getaway” by the Salsoul Orchestra, but with gabber and classic 90s hardcore techno sounds. Disco/funk and electronic music at large have always been core elements of the music we make as Justice. In ‘Hyperdrama’, we make them coexist, but not in a peaceful way. We like this idea of making them fight a bit for attention.”
Interestingly the album artwork revealed alongside the official video for ‘One Night/All Night’ is a futuristic, anatomical reworking of the iconic Cross cover which perhaps further signifies the intention to breathe life in to the old whilst embracing the new.
Earlier this month, Justice were announced to be performing at this year's Coachella Festival in the US, which will be the debut performance of their as-yet-unseen new live show. No UK shows have been announced so far but the savvy and/or hopeful amongst us may notice there is a Glastonbury shaped hole in their touring schedule (they are going to play Glasto, aren’t they? AREN’T THEY!?):
Words by Elliot Houchell
