After an eight year hiatus from the dance music scene, the dynamic French duo of Daft Punk released their new album Random Access Memories.
Band mates Guy Manuel De Homem Christo and Thomas Bang Alter first entered the scene with first album Homework in 1997, reaching top popularity in clubs for their “house” style beats.
Known for their amazing visual elements that are incorporated into their music as well as their affects in live shows, Daft Punk creates a totally different sound in recently released album.
One really interesting aspect to Random Access Memories are the collaborators brought on to the album, but the most stand out collaborator by far is N.E.R.D’s front man Pharrell Williams, who is known for his funky and unique style.
Not that they needed any help at all, but Daft Punk upped the competition when they decided to bring in triple threat singer, songwriter and producer, Pharrell Williams
Already topping charts with their first single “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell, the singer owns the catchy hook:
“Shes up all night to get some … we’re up all night to get lucky.”
When first listening to the track, it’s shocking to assume that Daft Punk, known for their robotic-techno sound, would be responsible for a soothing disco kind of beat.
“Instant Crush,” featuring lead-singer of the Strokes Julian Casablanca, is a mellow song with the same computerized vocals that fans are so familiar with, and we can argue that this track is not exactly the norm, but whats not to love about Daft Punk and Julian Casablanca on the same track?
In an interview with the The List, Daft Punk stated, “Its pretty surreal you know, we recorded this album over the last five years and we were pretty disconnected from the rest of the world. We’ve kind of created this timeless bubble where we invited all these collaborators and artists to work with us. We are pleasantly surprised with how people seem to embrace the music, its very pleasing and totally unexpected for us as we have not been in the spotlight for a number of years.”
Over the course of their long absence, Daft Punk tried to create an intricate and elaborate sounding album, rebelling against their usual sound of techno-house music, throwing fans into a state of confusion, which is exactly what they are going for.
“Daft Punk has always been a top 5 for me, I still jam to old tracks from their old album, I have some of their older music on my phone now actually. Its been a long time coming for the newest album, I was almost losing hope for a another album from them and they once again blow my mind. Its actually different from what they usually do, but I like it. They absolutely changed their direction for sure, but I think that it was a good move on their part because music has changed,” says Jonathan Herrera, a junior.
The album begins with song “Give Life to Music,” a song that in a way defends their sudden change in direction of making music that is legendary, not mainstream noise.
The title is self explanatory, with the infamous robot theme of Daft Punk, their trademark sound is still existing.
Random Access Memories is Daft Punk’s “rediscovery” album and was a musical turning point for the duo receiving a lot of attention and still inspiring musicians today.
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