A Purple Cloud In The Consommé

Phoenix “Alpha Zulu”

“Alpha Zulu” is a terrific comeback single for Phoenix in the sense that it sounds like a hyper-concentrated version of their aesthetic – the quintessence of the band delivered with exacting efficiency to make anyone who likes them at all go “oh yeah, Phoenix, I like them.” They’ve always been precise technicians of pop and this song delivers a sequence of hooks in well-timed intervals, most likely the result of a careful editing processing but in practice a smooth conveyor belt of catchy moments that build up to one of their finest choruses. The biggest hook is in the lead up though, that rhythmic chunk where Thomas Mars is almost like a Gallic Busta Rhymes with his “woo ha, singing Hallelujah.” He’s singing about preparing for catastrophe there; the rest of the song is more cryptic and full of imagery – “your Mona Lisa immortalized, décapitée,” “I must have died at 51 in 1953,” “a hologram waiting for the tie-break.” As with most of Mars’ lyrics from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix onward there’s always a sense that he’s writing in code, little things that he and maybe his wife will get, but there’s always the alternate explanation of this just coming from a playful use of English when it’s his second language.

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