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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

