After a 18 month break after the release of LIVE: Thirty Days Ago, French indie pop-rockers Phoenix return with their new studio album, It's Never Been Like That. Filled with a somewhat chaotic mix of quirky and progressive pop rock, Phoenix offers an album sure to please existing fans of the band.

It's Never Been Like That strives for the same kind of elan, but bravely widens the band's scope to fully embrace elements of 70's / 80's / 90's FM pop at which they've only hinted before.

Even limited exposure to this French band's music is liable to turn the listener into a crazed zealot desperate to "just turn people on" to their music or to wander about aimlessly wondering aloud why they're not at least as well known as, say, Erlend Oye. The band's been relentlessly eclectic since they formed in the late '90s; they make hybrid music, an electronic-flavored rock that's impossible to describe without using up half a dozen hyphens in the process.

I can recommend this new record if you've loved previous Phoenix albums.
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