Album Review: Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Daft Punk's 1997 debut Homework is a perfect album. It explicitly referenced the past and sounded like the future and 15 years later, it still does. Homework was for the streets and the clubs, it's follow up Discovery (2001) was for everyone. Using everything they knew about electronic music, they crafted a perfect pop album. Human After All (2005) failed to translate to the critics and fans due to its experimental guitar-heavy sound and wholesale sample philosophy.

Random Access Memories is the culmination and progression of those three works distilled into a new record where the only boundaries are those set by The Robots. It's a long record – each track has enough time to be its own thing. Nile Rogers' guitar playing and The Robots' signature synth arpeggios are really the only consistent sonic themes throughout – in fact, Rogers' Chic sound is the biggest influence on the record and the main ingredient that separates it from their earlier records. While the recording of live instruments does create a warmth, essentially the biggest difference here is that the samples have been recorded live and incorporated back in to the tracks.

The drums often sound very real, such as on the guitar soloing outro of Giorgio or the yacht rock of Fragments Of Time. Pharrell Williams' vocals are a fantastic recurring human element. Julian Casablancas and Panda Bear act more as song vehicles – personality flourishes such as those that litter Discovery.

The album finishes with The Robots returning to space on Contact and the party is over for now, at least on earth.