The 10th anniversary edition of Daft Punk‘s final album Random Access Memories is out today (May 12), and with it comes a dazzling animated video for the Julian Casablancas-sung outtake “Infinity Repeating.” The clip was directed by longtime Daft Punk collaborator Warren Fu and features the work of animators Picnic Studios, H5 Studio, and Light Studios.
In it, we watch biological life evolve from amoeba form into mammals, upright, ape-like creatures, and then anatomically modern humans, who are naturally rendered with Daft Punk-style helmets even when dressed in Revolutionary War-era attire. By the end of the video, the beings on the screen are fully robotic, until the last one explodes into a pile of debris.
“This project is especially dear to me not only because I was the mutual friend that introduced Julian to [Daft Punk members] Guy-Man [de Homem-Christo] and Thomas [Bangalter], but it is also the final music video for Daft Punk,” Fu says. “Like a lot of the robots’ music, I wanted to create something simple and hypnotic on the surface, that reveals more upon repeat listens and viewings.”
Casablancas, who also sang on the hit Random Access Memories song “Instant Crush,” says “Infinity Repeating” was “a little stranger and more jazz modern, chord-wise, than the others on the record. It just cycles up like a pattern. It’s a four half-step cycle moving up on repeat. I wanted Stevie Wonder to sing it. [It] somehow has island summer vibes too. It’s lovely and bizarre. Like a human. And like a human, obsessed with infinity and constantly making the same mistakes and movements.”
Daft Punk had teased the song and video in a recent statement, confirming that it was “based on an infinity loop. The progression and lyrics to this track will make it echo infinitely. The concept of an infinity loop will also be reflected in the official music video as an epic ascension through human history and fate.”
The new edition of Random Access Memories includes nine additional tracks comprising 35 minutes of rare and previously unreleased music.
