Daft Punk and Julian Casablancas – Infinity Repeating Review

Infinity cannot be repeated but Daft Punk and The Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas make it plausible. Such is the power of their talents and credit where it is due, the deep cuts of Daft Punk appear to be of the same variety and collaborative qualities of Gorillaz in their heyday. Where Infinity Repeating failed to make an official appearance, is it both a stellar, important track to chart the collaborative process but also one which does not wholly fit the Random Access Memories meaning. Access this nostalgia. Daft Punk may be gone for good but their trickle of releases following their demise, artistic not literal, is solid in offerings and reassuring to see. More. Forever. Forever. 

Complimenting Daft Punk’s electronic fusion nicely is Casablancas’ dreamy and consistent voice. Slowly burning powers feel their way under that, his vocals an absolute delight, crossing the border into the weekday with smoothed-out lyrics. Demo tracks are always a stunning collection of talented bits which, for one reason or another, never found their way into the public sphere at a contemporary time. A decade between recording and release has done little to cool how credible and intense Infinity Repeating is, though. Casablancas may take centre stage on this one but The Voidz do feature also, to what capacity does not become clear until the cymbal clashes begin to explode, to dominate and overwhelm the electronics toward an end which obscures the Daft Punk outlook. Perhaps that is the point, though.  

Even with Daft Punk disappearing a year ago, there is a sense of truthful finality to Infinity Repeating. One final release, even if it is from the completed backlogs. Fans of any artist are rightfully desperate for one more expectation, just another kick of quality before saying farewell to their favourites. Infinity Repeating is just that, a chance to repeat and comb over what Daft Punk achieved and how their collaborative efforts shaped them, particularly their final album. For all the Kanye West inclusions on earlier works, it appears it was no better than the days of Pharell Williams of all people. Nile Rogers’ heavy lifting probably accounts for that too, as does Casablancas’ featured vocals here as the cymbals crash and crash and crash.  

Still it is the power of percussion, isn’t it? The constant boom, the certifiable end after so many false finalities. Demo tracks in an officially released capacity come from a place of past acceptance and see a band come to terms with their sounds old and new. Infinity Repeating gets the green light from those daft punks, with Casablancas and company sounding well on a track buried deep in an era that was not quite right for the style. Still, gone is the aftershock of Random Access Memories, a decade on from the final LP release. Still it drips on, thankfully for many the nourishment of a four-minute track will tide them over for days and weeks to come, but there is always a desire for more. There is never a hint Daft Punk could reform, never, but there is always hope when demo tracks release and the whirring machine of quality keeps on popping out little surprises.