As anticipation for Daft Punk’s impending album Random Access Memories reaches a fever pitch, the robots have given a track-by-track preview of the album to French magazine Le nouvel Observateur. Some highlights from the interview, as best decoded via Google Translate:
- John Robinson Jr., a session musician who played drums on Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, also drums on opening track “Give Life Back to Music.” Daft Punk say they were heavily influenced by the production of Quincy Jones, saying that the precision has never been replicated.
- Daft Punk imply that track “Giorgio by Moroder” features snippets of interviews they conducted with Moroder in which he talks about his life’s work.
- “Instant Crush” was a demo that Daft Punk had lying around. They played it for Julian Casablancas, who then helped the song come to fruition. Daft Punk imply that they love rock music but were disappointed by contemporary rock, with exceptions being the Strokes and MGMT.
- In describing “Lose Yourself to Dance,” Daft Punk say they are proud that the album features strictly live drums, with the exception of one track. They note that the only drummer to play on the album besides Robinson Jr. is Omar Hakim, who drummed for Stevie Wonder.
- Daft Punk say that “Touch,” a collaboration with composer Paul Williams, was the genesis of the entire album. They say the song is composed of 250 tracks.
- “Motherboard” is described as a “futuristic piece” that could be from the year 4000.
- “Doin’ It Right,” featuring vocals from Panda Bear, was the last song recorded for Random Access Memories. They call his voice “angelic.”
