Random Access Memories - Daft Punk - Album Review

FOR six days straight, I listened to nothing but Vampire Weekend’s extraordinary third album, Modern Vampires Of The City, over and over and over again. New singles and albums came flying past me but nothing could shake me from the music-induced coma I was trapped in by the genius New Yorkers. Nothing, that was, until on Tuesday, the 14th of May, when Daft Punk’s latest masterpiece of electro-disco goodness was released to the world. It was like someone had poured cold water on my face and said, ‘Mate, the most hyped album of the year just leaked online. Stop listening to Vampire Weekend’s luscious sexiness and go get it.’ I did get it. And I never looked back.

‘The new Daft Punk album would be really good to take drugs to and listen to on a rainy bridge across the Gulf of Mexico,’ American DJ and producer Diplo said through Twitter last night. ‘It reminds me of when I was 19 and I got really high and listened to Radiohead’s Kid A over and over, but I don’t know if young kids will get it.’ He has a point. With millions of people, young and old, eagerly waiting to sink their teeth into the juicy French masterclass that is Random Access Memories, the world had high expectations.

But on a typically beautiful evening at Californian music festival Coachella, the world got its first taste of the upcoming record through the infectious single ‘Get Lucky’ featuring the smooth vocals of Pharrell Williams. The internet went totally bananas, triple j played the shit out of it, and it broke Spotify records for the most plays in a day. With the single came an intriguing list of collaborators in addition to Pharrell; Nile Rodgers, legendary disco producer Giorgio Moroder, the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, Animal Collective’s Panda Bear and veteran songwriter and film composer Paul Williams. Little by little, Daft Punk slowly started to expose their musical revolution to the world, but not through their voice – through YouTube snippets, interviews with the collaborators, and even announcing a bizarre album premiere in the tiny Australian town of Wee Waa. Yes, Wee Waa.

The constant stream of anticipation climaxed when the album was leaked online just under a week away from its anticipated release date. iTunes was quick to respond with free streaming to attempt the stop the illegal downloads, but it was too late – already thousands were getting their hands on the project that the delicious duo have spent the last five years creating.

The album explodes into life with colossal guitar riffs leading into an apt tune reflecting Daft Punk’s career: ‘Give Life Back To Music’. The tone of the album is set from the very start – jingly little guitar strums accompanied by buzzing bass and happy little drum claps take up much of the album. Although not so enticing at the start, after a few listens each of the songs gains its own little personality and become special for its own reasons. Disco legend Giorgo Moroder makes a verbal appearance on a monstrous third track, which grows and grows before turning into a frenetically racing song that could be accompanied by visuals of Tom Cruise or Bruce Willis in an awesome car chase.

The album is beautifully balanced through the duration; not an easy task when it goes for 74 minutes. Even in the longest songs, the listener is kept captured by the slight vocal or instrumental lurches or key changes, meaning there is seldom a dull moment. Although initially unappealing and pleading for you to press the skip button, the two instrumental tracks (Motherboard and Contact) only show off the complexity of the skill that the duo possesses. Pharrell Williams lights up the album with beautifully smooth vocals on both of his cameos, most notably on the hip-shaking ‘Lose Yourself to Dance’.

However, at the end of the day the show gets stolen by arguably two of indie music’s biggest names – Julian Casablancas and Panda Bear. On Casablancas’ ‘Instant Crush’, a typically Strokes-esque guitar buzz (and vocals reminiscent of Comedown Machine’s ‘Tap Out’), the listener is encapsulated by his successfully altered vocals and when the chorus hits, ‘And we will never be alone again/ cause it doesn’t happen every day/ kinda counted on you being a friend/ kinda given up on giving away’, it is difficult not to be entranced. Although remarkably simple, containing not much more than a steady drum beat, vocal loops and Panda Bear’s monastic bell of a voice, ‘Doin’ It Right’ still manages to shine. ‘If you lose your way tonight/ that’s how you know the magic’s right’, sings Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox, over a rumbling bass drum. And we all know how important the magic is to Daft Punk.

The album isn’t without its slight hiccups however; some fans will find the 8-minute Paul Williams experience, ‘Touch’, to be wasted space. Although an emotionally substantial song when paid attention to, it feels very out of placed sandwiched in between the two joyful Pharrell songs. Similarly, coming of the triumph of opener ‘Give Life Back To Music’, ‘The Game Of Love’ drops off the intensity and puts the listener into a doze before the album gets a chance to really get started.

The main issues, however, with the diehard fans, can be summed up by a typical angry Facebook rant containing a vast number of swear words and rage concerning one main point: where are the electronic bangers that made Daft Punk who they are? Where are the ‘One More Time’s? Where is ‘Robot Rock? A valid point, but this can be easily overlooked once taking into consideration the new direction and target audience that they are trying to communicate to. If they wanted to make songs like they used to, I have no doubt they would have.

With Random Access Memories, they have made an album so entrancingly beautiful, yet so stunningly brave. By taking step in a new direction, they opened themselves to a whole new audience, and in doing so, stepped up to the critics. It was a move that only Daft Punk could make, and it was a step that earned them the hype. No matter what your taste, the age of dance is back, and Daft Punk are the pioneers.

9.0/10

Written by Ruben Seaton

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