There is experimentation for its own sake, and there is unforced invention delivered with chilled ease. The Voidz fall into the second category. The instinct for generating new ideas and managing the execution places the group in a position of worthy ongoing study, especially when the largely LA-based collective keeps demonstrating a knack for handling crisp ideas.
Driven by a passion that is believable, Julian Casablancas’ career-long penchant for melodic skill combined with an urge to make music that melds an edgy, much broader palette of genre is a process that continues to take shape in a quest to get closer to what has seemed hard to pin down. This is a huge positive, however. The beauty of The Strokes frontman’s creative conflict of interest lies in the proliferation of the output, there is a lot of music just waiting to be written and the songwriter is up for supplying.
Self-ironically the term ‘prison jazz’ has been used to self-describe the group’s music. In a similar vein, this release could be the band’s ‘probation jazz’ record, it offers a bigger outlook, and represents greater accessibility. There is a sense of inviting more people in.
— — If The Voidz’s ‘Tyranny’, the first full-length released in 2014, is the dark, gritty depth of Casablancas’ experimental ambition, 2018’s follow up ‘Virtue’ signifies the brighter, pop-like moment of being immersed, where he gets to enjoy it. ‘Like All Before You’ sits somewhere in between .