Phoenix
Ti Amo
(Loyaute/Glassnote)

The effortless pop that Phoenix bring to the music spectrum is as airy as laundry blowing in wind on a spring day. The merry band from France have released six albums altogether since they formed in the late ’90s with their break out album 2009’s, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix cementing their rightful place as masters of modern pop music. The band is genuinely concerned with whether you are dancing, and they show it thoroughly on their newest album, Ti Amo, a collection of songs that, whether sung in Italian, French, or English, beg the listener to shake their ass. They have discovered the formula for unfettered, sunshiny, Beach Boys meets Hall and Oates, gleaming bubble gum love, and are unapologetic and tongue-in-cheek, all the way to the festival main stage.

Phoenix know how to use a good melody, and usually find it in keyboard arpeggios that dot the record. Album opener “J-Boy,” finds that groove early with singer Thomas Mars continuing the almost spoken word, breathy vocal into the gem of the record. “Tuttifrutti” keeps the dance floor moving until “Fior Di Latte” slows it down in an effort to hug those hips a little tighter. “Lovelife” is the band’s best impression of a John Hughes movie with a rainbow of synth taking over the chorus, so infectious that it imprints itself on your brain. “Goodbye Soleil” is a sexy downturn that, once again, showcases well placed keyboard and synth.

And what does that mean? An album as refreshing as a watermelon picnic in Alabama in mid-July, a sunlit two-lane highway at dusk, dancing in your bare feet with the people you love, and that damn synth that parallels your favorite childhood toy. There is not control mechanism for that.