With the release of Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” only a week-and-change away (May 21 on Columbia), the pioneering dance duo are pulling the shrink-wrap off the set with a new video giving fans a first look at the album’s vinyl packaging.
Set in what resembles a command center filled with towering, illuminated computer servers, the 1:40-long video quickly makes its way to an envelope marked “confidential.” A pair of be-gloved hands begins a thorough inspection of the album, which ends with a needle-drop on leadoff track, “Give Life Back to Music.” Watch:
This is yet another element in the extravagant rollout of the French group’s first album in eight years. As detailed in an exhaustive new piece by Kerri Mason in this week’s Billboard, the unveiling began with a Facebook post, then an ad on “SNL,” a series of well-placed billboards and culminating with a trailer video premiered at Coachella that managed to out-hype all the bands that were actually at the festival.
The album was recorded on a soundstage, entirely live without drum machines or loops. “We’d searched a long time for the sound of the future. This time we stopped searching,” Thomas Bangalter (half of DP along with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) told us. “In this quest for the future, we might have overlooked some things from the past.”
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Don’t have 100 seconds to spare? Here are some of the key highlights to gin you up for next week’s album release:
1. The Cover
2. The Gatefold
3. The Booklet/Liner Notes
4. The Back
5. The Record