Justice - †

Apparently pronounced as Cross, or Dagger, to prevent it falling into the !!! trap of Brilliant But Impossible To Google music, this is the first album from the French duo still riding the wave of last year’s crossover smash We Are Your Friends.

The apparent religious connotations of † seem to give the possible crucifix explanation more weight, especially when featuring tracks titled Genesis, Let There Be Light and Waters of Nazareth. You could, of course, be overly analytical, and see † as the long-heralded ‘resurrection’ of dance music. Because that’s what it is.

That’s no more evident than in aptly-named lead single, D.A.N.C.E., which continues the spiritual peace-and-love message, its playful Motown style vocal imploring us to forget the world’s troubles and get onto the dancefloor, possibly wearing one of the inevitable spin-off t-shirts from its video. Such cheerful nature means the music remains organic and soulful, eschewing the basic Futureheads-go-synth sound of the New Rave bandwagon with more beats then you can shake a glowstick at.

DVNO is a surefire single with a dance-craze friendly handclap, and One Minute To Midnight conjures up romanticised views of the 80s, proving retro-chic is back. Again. The two-part Phantom gives a harder edge to proceedings, while Stress samples music video pioneers Devo, somewhat ironic given the pair’s secretive, shadowy nature, and Valentine features their own remix of Me Against the Music by LA layabout and sometime pop princess Britney Spears, a move toward genre-bending continued with the vocals of Ed Banger cohort Uffie on The Party.

When coupled with the debut from their monkey mates at Simian and the excellent Idealism, it appears that critics were too quick to proclaim the death of electro. The superstar DJ may thankfully have gone, but the tunes are back, and Justice are taking them overground.