The Daft Punk are breaking up so here are our 5 favorite songs that we will listen to on repeat
Daft Punk have just ended a 28-year musical collaboration. Here are the 5 essential pieces of the duo.
This Monday, February 22, 2021, will be forever etched in the memories of Daft Punk fans. Formed by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo in 1993, the Parisian duo left their mark on electro music and more broadly on pop. Elusive, Daft Punk has released only 4 studio albums and 2 live albums in their 28-year career. In 2010, they contributed to the movie Tron: Legacy by producing the soundtrack. Their last album released in 2013, Random Access Memories, has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. Ultimate consecration in 2014, they won 5 Grammy Awards including Best Album of the Year and Song of the Year for “Get Lucky”. For several months, fans had been hoping for a potential return of the duo in 2021 but the video titled “Epilogue”, posted on their YouTube page, brutally put an end to the wildest hopes. To celebrate the genius of Daft Punk, GQ has made the compilation of the most unforgettable hits that the duo has offered to music.
“Da Funk” (1996)
Daft Punk have always cast doubt on the fact that they were human, but their first hit begins with the sounds of a city, horns and slamming doors. Everything that makes up human life. In the winter of 1996, the duo unveiled “Da Funk”, the first single from their debut album Homework . Immortalized by a video by Spike Jonze, the track instantly became a classic of house music and is today considered one of the most significant pieces of the 90s.
“One More Time” (2000)
4 years later, Daft Punk puts the cover back on with “One More Time” and hits a huge blow on electro music. With this incredible hit that opens the Discovery album , the duo opens up a little more to the world and becomes a myth. It’s kind of the song that everyone has heard at least once in their life and we never tire of listening to it.
“Something About Us” (2001)
Still on the Discovery album , “Something About Us” is a separate track in Daft Punk’s discography, a track on the border between electro and funk, both dreamy and sweet. It will become the theme of love in the animated film Interstella 5555: The Story of the Secret Star System , in which the Discovery album will serve as the soundtrack. Almost twenty years later, it will be Michaela Coel’s turn to pay tribute to her in her superb series I May Destroy You . We also recognize a great piece by its longevity.
“Get Lucky” (2013)
It’s been 8 years since Daft Punk released a studio album and the wait has become unbearable for fans. In April 2013, the duo unveiled at the Coachella Festival the first images of the music video for their new song, “Get Lucky”. It does not take more to set the musical planet on fire and the song will ultimately live up to expectations. A month later the album Random Access Memories will be released. The Daft Punk here reveals a new facet of their identity and surround themselves with great gentlemen of pop ( Pharrell Williams and the legendary guitarist of Chic Nile Rodgers ) to design the music of tomorrow. It’s the inevitable piece of every night. It’s more than a hit, it’s a hymn.
“Touch” (2013)
Among Daft Punk’s greatest inspirations, the film Phantom of The Paradise has been regularly cited. In this feature film directed by Brian de Palma and released in 1974, a disfigured composer comes back to haunt Paradise, Swan’s rock palace. This Machiavellian label boss is played by Paul Williams and in “Touch”, the Dafts offer one of the most overwhelming moments of their discography with the actor. The song, both joyful and tragic, sums up the whole project of Daft Punk, that of going to seek in the depths of sonorities the humanity that slumbers there. All but a coincidence if the duo chose to announce their separation with this piece. “Touch” may well be their best legacy.