An Analysis of the Cross of Justice
Justice is an electronic music group formed by French musicians Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay, who are part of Ed Banger Records. In July 2007, Justice released his critically acclaimed debut album, Cross, with electronic smash hits including “Genesis”, which has been featured in several Cadillac car commercials. For my analysis, I will focus on three songs from the album that I find intriguing, which are “Genesis”, “Phantom”, and “Phantom II”, and how each of these songs was uniquely composed and how they tie into the early history. of electronic music.
The opening seconds of “Genesis” feature brass and a timpani part, as if it were music used for a battle scene in an epic 1960s war movie. This makes any listener wonder if the song could be electronic. Then of course come the booming basslines and beats with electronic synths and layered sampled pieces. I have speculated on how Justice wrote this song together and what samples they used, as Justice has a similar style to Daft Punk. After doing some research, I discovered that both Auge and Rosnay had an interview with MTV several years ago and claimed that the samples used for “Genesis” included parts from Slipknot, Queen and 50 Cent. Admittedly, this is a strange choice of samples to compose an electronic song, but it also shows how creative Justice can be in this kind of genre.
Cross also features two songs called “Phantom” and “Phantom Part II” that also feature heavy use of basslines and synths. These particular songs are essentially a remake of a theme song written by the musical group Goblin for a 1982 film called Tenebre, a film about an American writer who is hunted by a serial killer while writing a book in Rome. It’s fascinating to hear the differences between these two songs, as Justice made their new version of the song with more use of staccato notation, while the original theme song is more legato and melodic, as it is the theme song of a haunting movie. . I enjoy how Justice made “Phantom” and “Phantom Part II” more upbeat, but it’s also interesting to hear how Justice sampled pieces of this random theme.
These three Cross songs can be related to the techniques of musicians in early electronic music, particularly in the 20th century. The idea of using sound samples to compose original electronic music was developed by French radio engineer Pierre Schaffer and French composer Pierre Henry in the 1940s. James Tenney, a computer music composer at Bell Labs in the 1940s 1960, he also used sampling as part of his original music by using a variety of samples, such as parts of Elvis Presley songs, to compile his own compositions. These techniques are certainly demonstrated by Justice, who uses a variety of samples from different artists and genres to write songs that are barely recognizable on the final recordings.
Justice’s Cross has been a favorite album in my music library ever since I bought it in 2008. Along with other electronic artists like Daft Punk and Crystal Castles, I am amazed at how resourceful Justice can be in composing such original material and how his techniques can be linked to the first musical artists. I certainly hope that one day I will attend a Justice concert and experience a true electronic music experience.
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