Justice not quite such a current music act

Concerning your review of Justice live at the Marquee, unlike previous electronic acts to play the venue, such as Prodigy and Faithless — “whose best days were behind them” in the words of the reviewer — Justice are “as current as you can get”.

So let me just update you there. Justice’s debut album Cross, released in 2007, was the high water mark of the French electro house sound. That debut album and tracks from it have received or been nominated for numerous awards and in the half decade since have been heard in TV adverts as theme music for film, television programmes, and video games.

It has taken them four years to release another album of new material which, in comparison to the debut, was largely ignored and wasn’t riding the crest of any particular new sound. Clearly their best years are behind them.

But five years isn’t a very long time, you might protest? The Beatles of ’62 and The Beatles of ’67. Only five years between Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and The Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks.

Over the past five years electronic dance music has moved on — entire genres have risen and fallen. Juke, footwork, ghetto tech, and trap are “as current as you can get” right now (as opposed to five years ago).

There’s a huge and growing number of DJs making music which, to some extent, conforms to new styles. In contrast, Justice and French electro has creatively run its course and Justice are a heritage act.

Mark O’Sullivan

Passage West

Cork