Human After All?

Neil Clews
Mar 2, 2021
4 min read

Updated: May 11, 2021

If anyone one needed conclusive proof that there are two living, breathing human beings behind the masks of the robots, then the end is where we can begin, rather than the beginning.

I will posit the idea that the way Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo decided to announce their departure from the Electronisphere (?) last week could be equal parts publicity stunt and statement to the world of music that their partnership had run its course.

Why do I say that?

The video they released on YouTube - entitled Epilogue - featuring an excerpt from their dystopian movie Electroma shows one robot blowing up the other, then walking off into the sunset. This is total conjecture but I would like to believe that they decided a long time ago when one of them wanted to call it quits, they both would. However, that isn't the 'message' that this video leaves us with; moreover one survives. But to do what? Carry on alone in this project (with other collaborators, as on the highly successful but structurally hit-and-miss mega record Random Access Memories) or continue under another alter-ego in the music industry, as writer, producer and/or DJ?

I don't know, but what I do know is that the colossal surge in downloads and album sales in the last week brings into stark view the effect Daft Punk are still having now people believe that is truly it.

Am I sad? Of course I bloody am.

I was waiting for Alive 2021, or 2022, or whenever. All I wanted to do was watch them live and marvel at what they did in 2007, as for me this was their finest hour. They brought together the elements of Homework, Discovery and Human After All - the Daft Punk Trifecta, I'll call it, as RAM was a very deliberate departure and aberration in that regard - into one glorious funky, French house, techno, dance extravaganza. Just go listen to it, alone...for 1hr 24 mins....and be totally mesmerized.

From the funk-tinged electronic and techno bangers of 1997's Homework, to the radio-friendly sprawling epic dance influenced Discovery in 2001, Thomas and Guy-Manuel shifted styles somewhat but still retained that essence of who they were. Discovery was accompanied by a futuristic and super stylish anime movie Interstellar 5555. 2005 saw the arrival of Human After All, a back-to-basics minimalist effort that was absolutely panned by the critics as a backwards step. Recorded in around 6 weeks it was disappointing to many, however it is probably the album I listen to the most now in retrospect.

Some of the tracks mixed into Alive 2007 are phenomenal, not least meshing Discovery's Too Long with Human After All's Steam Machine; a total standout for me. I will list my favorites across the albums later...

I must also mention the lovely soundtrack to the 2011 film Tron: Legacy in which the robots played a cameo part briefly at a DJ booth. The orchestration and electronic/classical mix of music is really great.

Back to my theories: maybe they'd had enough of the mythology. There was certainly many people who'd have gladly booked them for any festival or tour location around the world (no pun intended), but perhaps that's not what drives them any more.

They are both married with two kids each. Perhaps family life and active involvement in the music industry from a more regressed position is what they crave? Having rubbed shoulders with Nile Rodgers for RAM in 2013 I can imagine him giving them some sage advice about longevity and success that only he could properly articulate. They would have certainly listened though.

This brings me to RAM: my biggest disappointment across the catalogue. Why? It's not because they shifted styles again to more disco and funk influenced numbers, exploring the origins of electronic music. It's not the fact that nearly every track had a collaborator or guest vocalist. It's not even that it was never accompanied by any tour with Nile on guitar! I just think when I listen to it now that it feels self-indulgent and bloated, and if it is a reflection of how the robots felt after all the accolades and praise was showered upon them in the intervening years, maybe I'd want to regress into the shadows now too. Surely kicking out the bangers in Paris clubs was more fun? Or at least a different kind of fun they could probably never have again. The pressure of being who they are now, in 2021, is perhaps too much? Or perhaps they simply don't care for it any more.

Perhaps they are simply being human beings, parents, friends and viewing the world differently now after a year of pandemic, lockdown, restriction and reflection? Human after all....pun utterly intended.

These two kids gave us the most amazing music for almost 30 years and I am truly grateful for every note, every break, every innovation of sound, every mix, every artist that has drawn inspiration from them and for those to come whose names and personas we don't yet know.

Do I hope this isn't the end? A bit, but I'd rather they be consigned to the annals of history as the major influencers of electronic music they've been instead of limping along for longer with record label pseudo-stifled creativity and fan-driven demand to have and see more of them. I'd love it if they did one more gig though and I had a ticket :)

One more time. Okay, I am stopping now with the puns.

In the final analysis I will steal this line as it is awesome and truly fitting: Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

Favourite tracks:

Homework (1997)

Revolution 909

Da Funk

Phoenix

Around The World

Rollin' & Scratchin'

Burnin'

Alive

Discovery (2001)

One More Time

Aerodynamic

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Crescendolls

Nightvision