Bankrupt!

Bankrupt! is the first new Phoenix album in four years. It is not a political or financial statement. It does not offer solutions to the world’s great problems or suggest excitement over insolvency. It sounds almost nothing like old Phoenix albums. It was made by the same people who made those albums, but they may not be playing the same instruments. These people are: Thomas Mars, Laurent “Branco” Brancowitz, Christian Mazzalai, Deck d’Arcy. It was written and recorded in New York City, New York, U.S.A., and Paris, France. It was produced by the band and Philippe Zdar in Montmartre. Champagne was involved. It contains 10 songs, no more. Bankrupt! is the end result of a process that began almost immediately after Phoenix walked offstage at the end of their last tour. This tour was in support of their Grammy Award-winning, critically acclaimed and gold-selling fourth album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. After the New York sessions, the members dispersed to points across the globe and continued their work together by means of modern communication devices. In spring of 2011, they reconvened at the Studio d'Herbécourt in Paris for recording sessions, before finally joining Zdar in his studio for mixing at the end of 2012. Bankrupt! is not disposable popular music. Though the songs are quite pleasurable on first listen, subsequent listenings will produce deeper engagement and satisfaction. This is intentional. “This album has more layers,” says Brancowitz. “The more you listen, the more you hear, and the more you really understand what’s going on. At the same time, we wanted it to be really fluid and simple like a sphere made of marble. You just see a sphere, but there’s a guy who polished it for a year.”