DAFT PUNK - Discovery

When they released their first album, Homework, four years ago, Daft Punk were probably far from imagining that it would reshape dance music the way it did. What followed was a complete explosion of the French dance scene. Of course, there was the likes of Laurent Garnier or St Germain before them, but none really reach massive international success. With Daft Punk came Air, Etienne De Crecy and many more. They had single-handedly generated what was to be known as “the French Touch”.
Four years later, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo are back with the follow-up to Homework. The first single to be taken from Discovery, One More Time, kicks off the album in style. The song is symptomatic of the sound of the record: disco inferno, trademark vocoder, and a feel for melodies and old skool keyboards. But Discovery is, in many ways, very different from its predecessor. Where the Daft boys produced a somewhat linear set on Homework, with few (good) ideas repeated all throughout the album, they now demonstrates a more diverse approach. The palette is so much wider here, with genres colliding constantly, from heavy metal (Aerodynamic) to eighties electro (Crescendolls, Short Circuit), to classical inspiration (Veridis Quo) and love songs (Digital Love and the down tempo Something About Us). Cleverly assimilated influences are flying, from Prince to James Brown or KC & The Sunshine Band and Kevin Saunderson, but never Thomas and Guy-Man give the impression to caricature them. Instead, they present a funny, futuristic view of the past by inserting unexpected pieces into their jigsaw. Aerodynamic starts with a stunning funky beat, on which what was once a heavy metal guitar draw a raunchy picture before a cheesy synth line twists the whole thing again, while Daft Punk invite Supertramp for a turn on Digital Love. The Daft boys also insert some melancholy in their compositions, on Nightvision, Something About Us, a love song on which they avoid boring clichés, and Veridis Quo. Collaborations, with Romanthony on One More Time and Too Long, and Todd Edwards on Face To Face give the album the necessary stamp of recognition.
As they remain true to their roots, Daft Punk create a enlightened record, overflowing with references, while still retaining an element of fun in their music, and proving that Homework was not an accident. With Discovery, Daft Punk produce one of the best dance album ever, and affirm themselves as innovators.