- Without wading too far into an incredibly tired topic, I will say this about the Random Access Memories hype: until about a week ago, it was hard to imagine Daft Punk not letting us down. How could they live up to the buzz they'd created? I heard a couple people ask, "Has everyone forgotten how shitty Human After All was?" Definitely a fair question. "It's all hype." Also true—since all we had until Friday were images and teaser clips, all of that excitement was, quite precisely, hype. But as unlikely as it may seem, "Get Lucky," the first single from the most anticipated electronic album of the decade, is an absolute jam.
The song has lots of obvious appeal. Pharrell is a great singer and the tune is catchy as hell. Nile Rodgers' guitar work and the piano in the back lend the whole thing an authentic disco feel. The beat has that classic Daft Punk strut, and their vocoders have never sounded better. Given its immediate popularity—it's a record-breaker on Spotify—most DJs won't touch it with a ten-foot pole, which is a shame as it could really do some damage.
But "Get Lucky"'s biggest achievements are more subtle. All of Daft Punk's music to date has had at least a touch of irony. Rolling Stone once described the songs on Homework as "nudge-wink grooves." Even at their best, Discovery and Human After All had a whiff of novelty—you could never quite tell how serious they were being. "Get Lucky" has none of that. It's a 100% genuine pop song, which, in a fundamental way, is a rather big leap for Daft Punk. For my money, it's the most mature piece of music they've ever released.