Daft Punk – Random Access Memories Review

Few would have thought Random Access Memories would be the last Daft Punk album. It makes sense, in hindsight, for this to be their farewell work. Very little of what the duo did could top the efforts heard on here, the collaborative process and the people brought in at all the right times, is an effective example of the lightning-in-a-bottle feeling of some albums. Random Access Memories is part luck, mostly talent and exceptional sampling. A lush triumph of their sound. Everything comes together. Their riskier tracks are their best here. Random Access Memories is the sort of noise made by those who were so frequently ahead of the rest. Daft Punk truly was that good, though Random Access Memories feels like their most complete album as they study the origins of their sound and what compels them to create.  

A revisionist sentiment is swirling around the album now, which feels like a sensible thought process. There are fewer hits on Random Access Memories than their earliest works, but some find the riskier portions (which ironically present the best bits of this album) as compelling, if not more so, than their earlier works. Give Life Back to Music gets the basics right and, in this simplicity, is a build. It continues onto The Game of Love which is easy to switch off from but the heartbreak heard within is a turn of form from Daft Punk. An intimate appeal is heard through those robotics and it is one of the many moments here which has the duo not reflect, but reveal a tension which keeps them going. But it all safety first for these two songs, the real fun begins with Giorgio by Moroder. 

It is their best song. Make no mistake about it. Catchy yet slower in tempo to capture all those flourishes of the eras this song works itself through. A remarkable eight-minute tribute to the legendary Giovanni Giorgio. Transitional tracks like Within serve their purpose but do feel a little below the par set by earlier songs in this album. Even then the percussion and steady electronics come together for a formidable experience, and within each of these tracks is a tone of collaboration, with The Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas’ influences heard early on Instant Crush. There is something to be said for these collaborations, from the obvious Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers Get Lucky additions to the understated yet important work from Chilly Gonzales on Give Life Back to Music. Daft Punk sound happy, almost insisting, that they hand off these pieces of work to those who can, indeed, give their lives to this music.  

Touch and the songs to follow are not given enough credit, odd considering how the sound of the summer Get Lucky is heard right after. The latter overshadows the rest of the album, particularly the outstanding Paul Williams effort which feels more like a jazzy, lounge music inclusion than anything in line with the Daft Punk sound. But it was this album which pushed their noise further, making it a grander experience than first expected. Evolving the sound to its climax and leaving it there. Over a decade on from Random Access Memories and it sounds just as refreshing as fans and newcomers to the duo’s work could hope for.