After a five-year break from the recording studio, Justice deliver a new album that will have you dancing all the way into and through 2017. With a carefully curated track listing of dance anthems and slow songs to help to you get back on your feet and the dance floor, Woman is the 2016 revival of funky fresh Eurodisco the genre deserves. Each of the ten tracks bloom over the course of their run like a time-lapse flower in spring.
Set to orchestral strings, delicate vocals, and funkalicious grooves “Safe and Sound”, the lead single for Justice’s third full-length studio album channels the sounds of disco and dance pioneers with a nod to the likes of ABBA, the Bee Gees, and Discovery-era Daft Punk. The track’s rhythmic bass line and airy vocals is reminiscent of their breakout 2007 album †. Tracks “Pleasure” and “Alakazam !” are cut from a similar cloth of bass driven funk as “Phantom” and “Phantom Pt. II” from Justice’s debut release. As a whole, Woman delivers a music experience in the same vein as Cross and their remix of Simian’s “Never Be Alone” from 2006 than their 2011 album Audio, Video, Disco.
With heavyweights like Daft Punk, Madeon, and Porter Robinson opting for collaborative singles rather than releasing new albums, 2016 felt like a light year for both house and dance music. Justice’s Woman is a salute to house music of years past, and a beacon of light to what the future of the genre holds.
Slow beats build “Stop” and “Chorus” up to be a turning point in the album, almost an intermission, diverging into classic Justice sounds backed by angelic vocals, before delving into “Randy”, a track that pairs well with Ed Banger label mates Busy P’s track “Rainbow Man”, which some might recognize from a 2014 Google Play ad campaign.
Rounding out the last two songs on the album, both “Love S.O.S.” and “Close Call” are dreamy synth ballads, perfect to soundtrack to a summer romance or coming of age on the silver screen.
The five years Justice has spent out of the spotlight and the build up to Woman has proved well worth the wait. The group keeps up its rhythm of producing a third contender for Best Electronic/Dance Album of the year.
Rating: 8.5/10
