Justice - Woman

Justice
Woman
2016
Spotify

2007's D.A.N.C.E. was the album that really put French electronic music duo Justice on the map. It was widely heralded as a massive step forward in the scene and injected new life into electronic music across the world. The follow up in 2011 was less exciting and lead Justice to take a full five years before releasing this newest album Woman. "Safe and Sound" more than anything really sums up who Justice are. The slow build, bellowing choir, heavy disco vibes and a fair bit of funk make for a truly awesome dance track. However this record is arriving in a world where Justice aren't the end all be all anymore. Many other artists have picked up the baton and carried the Nu-Disco genre into the future. It is not to say that this new record is not exciting and fun, it just has the misfortune of being another face in the crowd of a genre that Justice essentially reinvented. You are not going to find much in terms of surprises on Woman, Justice know their lane and they stick to it which gives us razor sharp songs even if the feeling is that you have heard all this before. This album feels like the best background party music you've ever heard, but will it make your daily playlist? I'm just not sure.

"Stop" is a real standout despite being one of the more down temp tracks on the record. It feels much more like funk than it does disco but still manages to keep a foot on both sides of the fence. What Justice have done here however is really embrace the Stereo sound. This is not just a big bold sound coming into your ears instead it shifts and moves bouncing from one side to another. They use it to great effect on "Chorus" letting different tones come at you from different sides, this is not the kind of album you listen to with one ear in and one ear out if you are really looking for the full effect. "Chorus" however is where everything sort of breaks down. The track has this spooky vibe to it (a la the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland) but it goes on forever. At seven minutes you would expect it to really have an arc, but it somehow manages to be the same start to finish and ends up being the biggest miss on the record. The last few tracks on the record end up being a real chore with Justice somehow trying to make some kind of slow jams like on "Love S.O.S.". There are highs here, there really are, but there is also quite a bit of sameness that really makes the record sag.

7.6 out of 10