Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

On Oct. 5, Phoenix took the stage to belt out their song, “Alpha Zulu,” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The title track off their upcoming album Alpha Zulu, due on Nov. 4 via Loyauté and Glassnote Records. The French ensemble serenaded the audience during Wednesday night’s episode of the talk show, watch below.

During their performance, the alt-electronic group gave a strong reminder of the built up anticipation toward their upcoming album with a sharp performance of the up-beat hit. Accurately depicting the sound of the song released this past June, the quartet were once again backed by acoustic-electric percussionist Robin Coudert and drummer Thomas Hedlund to cover all the ground they needed for the tune. 

Thomas Mars’ iconic voice bounces back and forth between the vocalized house synths and bass of Laurent Brancowitz and Deck D’arcy while Hedlund beats away at mid-tempo. The performance ended with Mars handing off his mesmerizing straight tones to guitarist Christian Mazzalai for the lead of a smokey and spiraling outro.

The inspiration for the song came from Mars hearing the commands of a pilot on the radio while he was in a small airplane cockpit, reacting to the “may-day” feeling of the phrase ‘Alpha Zulu’ repeated again and again. Since the release of “Alpha Zulu,” the bands first new music since their no. 1 hit in 2020 “Identical,” Phoenix has shared the second song off their new album, “Tonight,” featuring Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig.

Phoenix’s new album Alpha Zulu is scheduled to release on Nov. 4. Read more about their forthcoming LP release here.