Originating from France, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de
Homem-Christo’s Daft Punk has not
only shaped and changed dance music since 1993, but has dominated it. This duo
is the leading name of electronic dance music with their heavy bass drops and
quick beat synthesizers. Daft Punk’s past three studio albums have held the
reputation of the “robots” scientific, futuristic, sound. Even the album
cover’s all share the same thick point italic Sharpie font. But, the fourth
studio album “Random Access Memories,”
released May 2013, is a foreign sound to what Daft Punk fans are used to. No longer are the heavy electronics,
but rather soft 90’s pop guitars and poetic lyrical voices singing full verses
instead of the trance like repetition of a single word. Even the album cover
and font express a rebirth. No longer is there the simple title in the center
in a vibrant color. “Random Access
Memories” is written in the same font as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” with the famous helmets
glistening and newly polished in the center of the black square. This new
renaissance by EDM’s top contributor raises the question: Can Daft Punk abandon
all they are known for, alienating their original sound, and still keep their
fan base, fame, and fortune?
“Random Access Memories” “exposes the human side of their musical impulses (Ken
Tucker, NPR Music)”. Daft Punk has finally removed the helmets and reveled
their inner nostalgia for the older generation of music. In a Rolling Stone Magazine exclusive
interview Bangater exposes the motives behind the new sound: “We wanted to do
what we used to do with machines and samplers, but with people.” The duo and
their “robot” collaborators stressed to experience the difference between
technology and humanity, answering the question how do you feel true emotions
in a high strung technological world where “ILY” replaces “I love you” easily
as a quick Siri conversation? They have achieved this feeling. Listing through
the album, songs like “Fragments of Time” would make you believe for all four minutes
that you are not listening to Daft Punk. The smooth, jazz, sound transport you
back to the days of slow dances and sways instead of high-strung clubs with
half naked women and acid.
This
old school sound has scared some Daft Punk fans away. Diplo, a harsh critic
writing under Stoney Roads, referred to the album as it “…
makes [him] feel like [he’s] alone at waffle house and the jukebox is broken
and only Micheal McDonald plays out of it’.” Another angry fan remarked “When I first heard daft punk I was in my
teens and going to my first parties that played dance music.. With no words..
That was new world to me.” Disappointed avid listeners are turning away
from the new album with disgust that Daft Punk would even consider trying to
change their sound. They are known for the bouncy electro hype, not easy
listening driving down a palm tree sweltered 80’s LA rode in a white
convertible and loafers.
“Random Access Memories” proves
that Daft Punk remain masters of their domain, unafraid of making drastic
direction changes in their art. The soft strings, the simple drum kits, and of
course, the children’s choir, were not expected to come from the French
electronic duo, but somehow it all works and we cannot stop listening. Time
Magazine’s Dan Pfleegor wrote, “In 1968, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A
Space Odyssey taught that man became who he is by mastering his tools,
not by being a slave to them. Perhaps too, robots can only pretend to be human
for so long before parting from their synthetic origins and embracing the
tangible.” Daft Punk’s fourth studio album “Random
Access Memories” is a standstill between old and new, but they “robots”
have not lost their charm and technique.
