Full disclosure: I know Azari and III. But even so I wouldn’t be afraid of telling it as it is about their new album. You know what they say about the people you know. The reality is that this Canadian group functions more as a band than two producers who rotate singers like they rotate neckties. Azari and III is comprised of two lead singers and the two people who play the instruments and produce the beats. Many people keep referring to them as a sort of mimic or “homage” to the past but that mere statement makes that music style out to be dead. Yes, there will be always be a strict sound that is pure to a certain time in Chicago, but that doesn’t mean it ever went away, let alone die with a couple of resurrections here and there. No, the reality is that this music is played all the time and people still breathe and create that sound; the difference is that we as a culture only allow ourselves to listen to something in stages, and then we become saturated with the same and we move on.The explosion of Hollywood electro in every radio station, and like in the 90′s, will soon be fading out. The day it hit radio was the day that style of music began its death clock. Will it completely fade? No, of course not–there always will be someone who fits that category but eventually it’ll come back and someone will call it an homage. The difference is that Azari and III truly sound like this. They aren’t trying to recreate a sound. They aren’t looking at music history and making that music on purpose. It’s just who the band is, unlike so many producers who have come out and explicitly said that they are merely copying that sound. Azari and III are a lot darker and menacing–not to mention incredibly inspired by some deep German tribal stuff. On the album are what could be easily top 40′s such as “Into The Night”, “Reckless (With Your Love)”, “Manic” or “Hungry For The Power”. There are also a series of songs which serve more as auditory explorations (“Tunnel Vision”, “Indigo”, Manhooker” and “Change of Heart”), as opposed to the deep pop hits. Overall it’s a great promissory note to the world, and a view of what’s to come in the dance world. If anything, all I can hope for are more divas and fewer bros dominating the scene.

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