Music — Consumed

2007 · Justice

Justice took the French touch formula and pushed it into overdrive, layering distorted basslines over baroque samples and compressing everything until it screamed. Tracks like "D.A.N.C.E." and "Genesis" don't just build energy, they sustain it at a fever pitch, creating this relentless momentum that feels both euphoric and slightly unhinged.

What makes this album work is how it balances refinement with chaos. The production is meticulous—every element is precisely placed and processed—but it sounds like it's constantly on the verge of falling apart. That tension between control and mayhem is what gives Cross its power. It's dance music that demands attention rather than fading into the background, tracks built for peak-time moments but detailed enough to reward close listening.

The album's influence on electronic music production is hard to overstate. It proved you could be aggressive and sophisticated at the same time, that maximalism could be a production philosophy rather than just excess. Nearly two decades later, that compressed, distorted aesthetic is everywhere, but Cross still sounds singular—a perfect snapshot of a moment when French electronic music was pushing dance music into genuinely new territory.