MUSIC | Electronic Music Titans Daft Punk Are Finally Making a Move!
MUSIC | The World, Dance!──Giants of Electro, Daft Punk, Finally Make Their Move!
New Album to Be Released on Wednesday, May 22nd, After 8 Years
Daft Punk, the giants of electro, are supported across genres and borders, to the extent that they can be called the originators of the current dance music scene. After releasing "Human After All" in 2005, they have been virtually silent for 8 years, but now they are finally making a move!
Text by TANAKA Junko (OPENERS)
A "Major Event" Befitting Their 20th Anniversary
The masked duo continues to influence artists worldwide, not just in their native France. That is Daft Punk, formed in 1993 by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. In their second album, "Discovery," released in 2001, they collaborated with the master of Japanese manga, Mr. Leiji Matsumoto, a dream they had. Mr. Matsumoto created animations for all the songs on the album, including "One More Time," one of their signature tracks, creating a huge buzz both domestically and internationally.
After releasing their third album, "Human After All," in 2005, they embarked on a world tour for about two years. Since then, apart from the soundtrack for the movie "Tron," they have been in a state of hiatus. However, this year, as they celebrate their 20th anniversary, news has broken that they are moving labels and restarting their activities for the first time in 8 years. Given their every move is closely watched, their announcement was also anything but "ordinary."
It happened on the night of Saturday, March 2nd, during the popular variety show "Saturday Night Live." A sudden commercial break revealed the artwork for their new album, featuring the combined helmets of Bangalter and de Homem-Christo (see top image). At the same time, when they released it on their official website and Facebook, access from around the world surged, causing the site to temporarily go down. On Facebook alone, over 100,000 "likes" were received in one day, with shares exceeding 10,000. This incident clearly shows how eagerly fans have been awaiting their new album.
"Random Access Memories," to be released on Wednesday, May 22nd (scheduled for release on May 21st in the US). The title, a pluralization of "RAM (Random Access Memory)," used for a computer's main memory, expresses Daft Punk's concept of humanity. After another commercial break on Saturday, March 23rd, as soon as pre-orders started on iTunes in various countries around the world, it hit the top 10 on the album charts in six countries within just one day.
The dance music the world has been waiting for lands on Earth once again!
To commemorate the release of their new album, a movable figure, "S.H.Figuarts DAFT PUNK," will also be released in Japan! [Total height 150mm / Manufacturer and Distributor: Bandai]
http://tamashii.jp/special/daftpunk/
"Random Access Memories"(Japanese Edition)
Daft Punk
2520 yen (SICP3817)
13 tracks in total (Japanese edition to include bonus track)
Columbia / Sony Music Japan International (SMJI)
Release Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2013
http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/daftpunk
http://www.randomaccessmemories.com/