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Thursday, June 15, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS
By WILL STEWART
Summer Managing Arts Editor
Phoenix was nearly a decade
ahead of the curve when they were
releasing synthy, ’80s-inspired hits
like “If I Ever Feel Better” and “Too
Young” off their first album Unit-
ed in 2000. Now, almost 20 years
later, their style has been replicated
countless times by other musi-
cians of varying popularity. They
were undoubtedly innovators in the
revival of synth-pop, but pioneer-
ing a genre’s commercial comeback
— though ’80s synth-
pop never really died
—
comes
with
its
downsides. The sound
that
initially
made
them so fresh and
inspired others to take
a more synth-oriented
approach is now stale.
With Ti Amo, Phoenix dives deeper
into a strictly pop, synth-laden sound
that’s no longer as captivating as it
was with past albums like United and
It’s Never Been Like That.
In 2009, their decade-long sonic
progression accumulated into a
masterpiece:
Wolfgang
Amadeus
Phoenix, an album filled with indie
pop perfection. After releasing such
a gem, they found themselves in a
tough situation: Over the previous
three albums, they fine tuned their
sound and grew into a band capable
of creating such a stellar album, one
that would seem impossible to fol-
low. Like any artist following a mas-
terpiece, they would have to change
their sound without abandoning
what made them so influential in the
first place. And, with other contem-
poraries imitating their style, sound-
ing original would be impossible.
Wolfgang did wonders for indie pop;
it also set the bar unrealistically high
for Phoenix’s next releases.
Bankrupt!, their follow up to Wolf-
gang, was by no means a failure, even
though it drifted away from their
understated style of past albums. In
my opinion, it did the whole ‘synth-
pop revival’ shtick better than most
of their pop contemporaries like The
1975 and Sky Ferreira. But having the
misfortune of following a contempo-
rary classic, it failed to live up to its
high expectations. Four years later,
Ti Amo only drifts further away from
their unique brand of indie pop.
Phoenix’s
sound
has
always been clean and
refined,
staying
organic
and never overly processed.
They introduced heavier
reverb on Bankrupt!, relying
more on complex process-
ing and studio effects. But
on Ti Amo, these artificial
elements play an ever bigger role and
dominate the sound — all subtlety is
lost. “Tuttifrutti,” one of the album’s
catchiest tracks, begins with a flashy,
fast-paced synth intro followed by
Thomas Mars’s falsetto, all drenched
in reverb and studio manipulation.
The heavy processing works here;
the song is naturally catchy enough
that its inorganic sound doesn’t
detract. But after 36 minutes, the
dense layers of effects are bloated
and suffocating. And by Ti Amo’s
closer, “Telefono,” a strong song on
its own, I found myself craving the
simpler sound I grew to love on pre-
vious albums.
“Fior di Latte,” which has the mak-
ing of a summer chart-topper, shows
Phoenix can still pack a ton of emo-
tion into a song. The heavy synths
and soft vocals evoke passion, but
Mars’s weak lyrics feel cringeworthy
at times. He moans, “Oooooh, we’re
meant to get it on” throughout the
chorus, and it doesn’t feel as sexy as
he likely intended it to be — probably
the first time any French singer has
been considered “not sexy.” Ti Amo’s
lyrics flirt with themes of heartbreak
and lust, though only at the surface,
never really saying anything poetic.
Mars sings on the titular track, “Love
you! Ti amo! Je t’aime! Te quiero! /
Open up your legs.” I’m not sure what
he was going for here, but it’s kind of
disgusting. He ends up sounding like
a multilingual creep instead of an
international lover.
Almost every song — with a few
exceptions, like the disappointing
“Ti Amo” and the quiet “Via Veneto”
— could have been a standalone sin-
gle. Individually, the songs are catchy
and vibrant, perfect for sweaty sum-
mer nights. And this makes Ti Amo
so conflicting; even though most of
the songs are damn good, listening to
Ti Amo as a whole is more laborious
than pleasurable. When “Telefono”
fades out underwhelmingly, I don’t
feel the need to go back to the start
— hearing the opener “J-Boy”’s drum
kit intro would just irritate me, even
though this song is pop gold.
Unlike It’s Never Been Like That
and Wolfgang, Ti Amo isn’t a breath
of fresh air; ultimately, it sounds like
other contemporary pop music. It’s
ironic to consider this a put-down,
since they were immensely influen-
tial in shaping indie pop throughout
this decade. Phoenix by all means
shouldn’t be weighed down by their
past successes. And unlike The
Strokes, whose first album’s perfec-
tion would doom the rest of their
discography, Phoenix has grown and
changed throughout their career.
But I’ll always be longing for another
masterpiece, and I don’t think that’s
an unfair standard to hold them to.
By SYDNEY COHEN
Daily Arts Writer
The trailer for “My Cousin
Rachel” presents a twisted psy-
chological thriller crossed with a
steamy period romance, complete
with promising performances by
Rachel Weisz (“Denial”) and Sam
Claflin (“Me Before You”). For
a lover of period romance films,
“My Cousin Rachel” seems at first
to be unique and intriguing in its
suspense and mystery. However,
the film in its entirety effective-
ly demonstrates the misleading
power of a well-edited trailer.
The film begins with the back-
story of protagonist Philip (Claf-
lin), who was taken at an early age
by his cousin-turned-father-figure
Ambrose (also Claflin) and raised
on a large estate. Close to
Philip’s 25th birth-
day, Ambrose trav-
els to Italy where he
falls in love with and
marries their mutu-
al
cousin
Rachel
(Weisz). Alarmingly,
Philip soon begins to
receive cryptic let-
ters from Ambrose
detailing the ways
in which Rachel is tormenting
him; Philip goes to Italy immedi-
ately but learns that Ambrose has
died. This all happens within the
first 10 minutes of the film, set-
ting the precedent that Rachel
is malicious and manipulative.
Philip develops an acute hatred
for Rachel, and when she trav-
els back to the estate to mourn
Ambrose,
the
two
fatefully
meet.
The following plot involves
Philip
becoming
increas-
ingly infatuated with the gor-
geous Rachel and her feminine
charms. The opening of the film
works as a subtle but constant
reminder to the viewer that
Rachel is perhaps not as inno-
cent as she appears. However,
while it is compelling at first to
try to look for clues that indi-
cate Rachel’s ulterior motive in
her relationship with Philip, the
film becomes frustratingly pre-
dictable and Rachel’s manipula-
tion becomes glaringly obvious.
The root of this predictability
lies in Claflin’s overwhelming
transparency; there is absolute-
ly no subtlety to his character,
and he thinks and acts in ways
that are simultaneously stupid,
self-destructive and inevitable.
Claflin’s character exemplifies
the ability of men to be eas-
ily manipulated by the slightest
hint of sexuality. Philip goes so
far as to relinquish control of
his entire estate to Rachel after
a few kisses and lingering glanc-
es. The lack of character depth,
partly due to Claflin’s mediocre
acting as well as a massive flaw
in the story, ultimately disrupts
the intrigue of the narrative
and causes the film to become
superficial and annoying in its
predictability.
Furthermore, the film would
have been far more
captivating if told
from
Rachel’s
perspective.
Through Philip’s
eyes,
Rachel
is
merely
a
prize
to be won by his
mother’s
pearls.
But
regardless,
the film hints at
the female expe-
rience in the late millennia, in
which women had no autonomy,
no power of ownership and were
completely dependent on men
for money and security. The
only weapon in Rachel’s arsenal
is her sexuality, and she wields
it calculatingly. The film also
touches on the centuries-old
trope of women with an inti-
mate knowledge of herbs and
their powers. Rachel makes
Philip
her
“special
brew,”
which is clearly poison, fur-
ther emphasizing the ability
of women to find power in the
tools available to them while
still acting within the confines
of their gender. With Rachel’s
perspective, an exploration of
the sociopolitical landscape of
the time as a deeper explana-
tion for her actions would have
provided depth and complexity
to the narrative. But with Phil-
ip as the protagonist, the film
remains a one-dimensional and
patriarchal spotlight on one
man’s overwhelming stupidity.
GLASSNOTE RECORDS
Phoenix members share orange juice in a peaceful setting
‘Ti Amo’ lacks usual charm
Ti Amo
Phoenix
Glassnote
Records
‘Cousin Rachel’
is unsatisfactory
“My Cousin Rachel”
Michigan Theater
Fox Searchlight
Pictures
MOVIE REVIEW
MUSIC REVIEW