Chromeo: We Think Solange Is The Total Package

It's midway through a week of SXSW promo in Austin, Texas but Chromeo are on. The Canadian disco-soul duo attack each interview with the verve of new young things trying to win their first wave of media attention. Propped up in the first floor lounge of the Hampton Inn, P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel) is blinged out and relaxed into a giant sofa chair while Dave 1 (David Macklovitch) sits excitedly on the edge of his matching chair. Both stylish in black, both in love with their new album White Women.

The pair see their fourth album White Women as their most collaborative effort to date – working with Solange and Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig as well as upcoming production duo Oliver.

Having previously worked with Solange as she was reinventing herself as a hipster pop princess, Chromeo refuse to take credit for her newfound coolness. “We didn't help Solange in any way,” says Macklovitch. “She was already killing it – she's the total package.”

But he will take acclaim for another act's sudden hipster cred. “I'll take credit for us and Hall & Oates,” boasts Macklovitch. “And Daryl [Hall] would be the first to say that 'coz we went to war with that band's name. People went 'What! Hall & Oates!' for so long. We went to war.”

One track on White Women in particular seems to cement Chromeo's musical nostalgia, the slow-burning Old 45s. But Macklovitch argues, “This is not us listening to old records but listening to a record like the Drake single – which is the same 100 bpm tempo – and, it's like, this is a great groove, we should do something at that tempo too. It's dancey but in a different way.”

The last song recorded during the White Women sessions – finished the day before mastering began – is a collab with Oliver. Macklovitch continues, “They have the same sort of hip hop/funk/disco culture as we do. They actually wrote that song… And it's got that George Michael thing – kinda '80s rockabilly effect on the voice, the chorus gets real big and the guitar solo is pure Roxette but it sounds modern. My parents like that.”

Ahem, there's that nostalgia thing again. Macklovitch disagrees, “The thing with us is it could be Leo Sayer or it could be Blood Orange. We're not fetishists for old music. Our whole schtick was that we were gonna draw from this whole obscure part of the musical canon that people overlook. Once that's established we're in dialogue with… You know, we'll listen to an Andre 3000 record for inspiration.”

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