Four years on from their debut album †, French dance duo Justice return with Audio, Video, Disco, a record pulling in influences from the last four decades to create one for the years most danceable albums.

While their first album was clearly influenced by Daft Punk and the French/Belgian electro scene that they spawned, their follow up brings in far more from the world of guitars than it does samples and broken beats. The power chords on album opener ‘Horsepower’ set the tone for what’s to come – a six-stringed attack on the dancefloor designed to get fists pumping and heads banging.

With ‘Civilization’ and ‘On ‘n’ On’ the pair evoke Freddie Mercury at his most theatrical and Jeff Lynne at his most operatic, all the while pounding out stadium sized beats and prog-rock riffs that you’ll be hard pushed not to dance to. On ‘Newlands’ and ‘Ohio’, synth hooks and guitar solos evoke further memories of the 70s and 80s guitar bands at the same time as sounding like a song that could only have been made in 2011.

While all of this certainly sets them apart from their contemporaries, Justice haven’t forgotten their roots: the vocals on each track have been pushed through synthesizers and arpeggiators  just as Daft Punk have always done. However, with Audio, Video, Disco the duo have managed to set themselves apart from their direct influences as well and create an album of heavy-hitting yet entirely danceable pop music.