Jus†ice’s third studio album, ‘Woman’, sees Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé return with an album that’s one part fan service, and two parts romantic disco odyssey.
The Parisian duo have built up something of a passionate, if a little demanding, fanbase over their 14 year career, and it’s split right down the middle. On one side you’ve got fans who want the duo to make Cross-sounding bangers all day, and anything else is pure sacrilege. Then there’s the other half who simply wants something new, something fresh and exciting. And that’s where the Jus†ice conundrum comes into focus; whatever direction they go, they’re always going to leave some fans behind, and that’s what happened with ‘Audio Video Disco’ to an extent. Most fans, quite understandably, felt that Audio Video Disco’s dad rock veneer simply just wasn’t Justice-y enough, and the duo’s new direction was neither exciting or fresh.
That’s the first wrong that de Rosnay and Augé put right: ‘Woman’ sounds like the Justice we all know and love again. But even more impressive is the way they’ve gone about delivering a bit of much needed fan service alongside a new, more wholesome disco sound. There are huge nods to their early work with propulsive tracks like ‘Chorus’ & ‘Alakazam’. Then with ‘Safe and Sound’ & ‘Heavy Metal’ you’ve got two wonderfully grandiose homages to the duo’s iconic track, ‘Planisphere’. And better yet, with ‘Fire’ and ‘Stop’ you’ve basically got two tracks that sound like long-lost Justice remixes, circa 2005.
‘Woman’ won’t satisfy everyone, it never could, but overall it sounds like de Rosnay and Augé have made a concerted effort to make an album that looks to unite rather than divide, and from that perspective it can only really be seen as a real return to form. And when the duo finally brings this new material into the live setting, presumably next year, we should be looking at another career-defining live show from the mercurial Parisian duo known as Jus†ice.
Jus†ice’s ‘Woman’ is out November 18 worldwide via Ed Banger Records.
