Julian Casablancashe’s this guy who does what we would all do in his place, but which artists actually rarely do: take advantage. Having reached the peak of his talent, popularity and royalties that go with it, he could have followed a bizarrely classic career: stringing together anthologies and lousy concerts, forcing absurd end-of-career meetings to sporadically replenish his bank account, like so many old bands these days. Instead, here he is leaving with his Strokes when it works well, and enjoy a second career with his new group, The Voidz. Without really following a fixed career plan, the group has just released its third album in ten years, Like All Before You.
The problem with The Voidz is that despite the originality of this team, it’s difficult not to listen to them from the gigantic center of gravity that is The Strokes for indie rock – just listen to the first track of Virtue to convince yourself of this. But as Julian Casablancas likes to do things neatly, it has always been a success, as we were convinced of with this previous record.
With Like All Before Youthe impression left is that of a collective finally completely independent of its initial core. A completed, complete mitosis, and which, if it offers life to a strange being, has given everything in terms of idiosyncrasy. However, the new Casablancas has a taste of something already heard: vocal areas with complete confidence, absolutely overkill vocoder which lets dissonance make its entire identity, and toplines which prevent each title from completely leaving the sphere of hits. In this game, “When Will the Time of These Bastards End” makes everyone sit down and gives a lesson in composition from a guy who has lost nothing, but who above all knew how to surround himself with talented people . If the keyboard parts of his solo Phrazes For The Young sometimes sounded a bit cheap, that’s it with The Voidz. It is in this same composer confidence that the group allows itself to play quite new and frankly successful instrumental parts. In addition to the entries and exits of the disc, we spotted a “Spectral Analysis” which almost seems to come from a J-RPG from the 2000s, and under which this usually so strong voice subtly slips.
It’s quite simple: Like All Before You only has the faults of its qualities. If Julian Casablancas is a monster of melody and inventiveness, he is nonetheless himself, and pieces like “Flexorcist” give the impression of having already been written… by him. Likewise, if you were looking for an album that was conceptually coherent and didn’t sound like it was written by a bunch of caffeinated squirrels, you’re in the wrong place. Without being experimental, the record is eclectic to say the least, and we’ll let you judge what “Prophecy of the Dragon” says about their talent for heavy metal.
On the other hand, if you were looking for the real continuation of the career of Julian Casablancas, it is here. In the disturbing sweetness of “Square Wave”, in the heady chorus of “7 Horses”, and in the overall atmosphere of a record made by people who look forward even when they could revel in their past until the end of their days.
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