Alix Fernz - Bizou
Mothland
Released April 19th, 2024
Equal parts glamour and calculated chaos, Alix Fernz’ debut solo record sizzles with energy and eccentricity. Much like the party culture of which Alix makes constant reference, the album is a tenuous tightrope walk between uppers and downers. Fortunately, this young savant knows just which rhythmic stimulants combine with melodic benzos to make for a wild but satisfying trip.
The distorted and at times indiscernible vocals, combined with sax, synth and guitar riffs that are the definition of angular, make this album too edgy to be deemed ‘approachable’. And although it’s certainly flipping the bird to conventions, I wouldn’t call this punk; it’s more like music for punks to dance to. But with all the stops and starts, polyrhythms and sudden drones, even the most talented skanker would struggle to keep up.
To me, the mark of a great album is whether or not it can transport the listener - good albums move the heart, but the great ones move the imagination too. Bizou certainly does that - for 32 minutes, the listener is ferried deep into a hazy, dimly-lit Montreal basement. It’s a drug-fueled frenzy, at times summoning heart palpitations, and at others slowing the pulse to a near complete stop.
Perhaps the most gleaming jewel in Bizou’s crown is the carefully crafted synth tones - each more perfectly deranged than the last. Opening track Muselière drops us into a menacing low end, quickly disrupted by a tightly wound beat that bobs and weaves around a rhythmic rap-like monotone, before plunging into a circusy, synthy, tilt-a-whirl of a chorus. And the song only gets crazier from there.
Album single “Wax” narrates the anxious thoughts of someone who’s been found out - for what is unclear. This nod to transgression is consistent across the album, with many songs discussing the desire to hide, to be two-faced, to sell - and believe - a lie. In a recent interview with Also Cool, Fernz reveals, “A lot of the songs are angry and bring up a lot of unsavoury old feelings. I don’t like writing from the first-person, so I’ve created other versions of myself - personas - to write about the tough stuff...” Indeed, from the opening track “Muselière” to album closer and title track “Bizou”, Fernz seems to be speaking to a mirror, externalizing difficult emotions for indiscriminate evaluation.
The songs are mostly in French, with three exceptional contributions in English. Fernz’ stated tenuous relationship with English as a second language lends him yet another unique win; playing - either accidentally or intentionally - with line structures and tenses contributes even further to the dizzying psychedelia of Bizou.
Some of the more emotive tracks - Cage en verre, Bizou - bring to mind early Lifted-era Bright Eyes, while sterner songs bring to mind Black Midi or Osees. Despite dabbling in multiple sonic territories, the album is cohesive and focused, as if it’s the soundtrack to one crazy night. Bizou is complex yet lucid, delivering yet another winner from small but mighty Montreal label Mothland.
- Penelope Stevens