It is so sad that Daft Punk is now in the past, the legendary duo's path together has come to a roaring end.
It is so sad that Daft Punk is now in the past, just like the quote “all good things must come to an end” the legendary duo’s path together has come to a roaring end with applause, suspense, and mixed feelings. Formed in 1993, the electronic music duo, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, and Thomas Bangalter has come a long way and they artistically announced their breakup in what happened to be their last act together in an 8-minute video titled “Epilogue“. This video was released on the 22nd of February 2021 and it contained an excerpt of the movie titled Daft Punk’s Electroma.
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The epilogue video
Captivating scenes in the “Epilogue” video includes highlights of the Daft Punk duo with their trademark gold and silver helmet, walking across a deserted landscape, under high suspense and devoid of music in the background, then gradually, the Daft Punk personality with the gold helmet walked away from his partner, came back later, starred at his partner for a while in an emotional atmosphere and activated a self-destruct bomb on the back of the latter. After that, the time-bombed Daft Punk personality walked in the opposite direction to the position of his partner who set off the timer and exploded when the bomb countdown was reached.
In continuation of the tragic scene came the Daft Punk trademark instrumental which played in the background as an animated picture of opposite hands of the Daft Punk robots doing a triangle sign was displayed across the screen with a caption of “1993-2021” underneath. The background music consists of synth beats, electric drums, keyboard, a deft touch of tambourine, bass guitar with a host of other electronic effects coupled with a soft choral vocal which says “hold on if love is the answer your home”. All of these mixes were an excerpt from their hit song “touch” in which they featured Paul Williams. The end of the epilogue music video was capped with a beautiful sunset scene as the lone Daft Punk personality with the gold helmet walked into the distant horizon.
That pretty much sums up the video of Daft Punk’s “Epilogue”, so if you are looking for a write-up about the latest Daft Punk act which was released last week and trending all over social media, what you are going to get is the sad news of Daft Punk painful breakup.
They broke up, big deal! It was not like their union was going to last forever, if you ask me, 28 years of being together without making a fuss about their relationship is a tough ask for any couple, I think these two deserve an award for this longevity because so many marriages founded on “true love” don’t come close to 28 years before they implode, how much more Daft Punk. You get my point, right?
Honestly, Daft Punk’s “breakup move” came as a shock to the music world especially the electronic and funk genre fans and the question running through everyone’s mind is why did the electronic music duo break up? Could it be that they no longer share the passion for music, or their relationship has become estranged? The music duo is still alive, therefore the death of one partner is not the reason for their break up. So then, why did they break up? To be candid, no one knows! Maybe that information is withheld from the public space for now, in other to be released in the future with the intent of making another massive headline, who knows! That Daft Punk is full of surprises.
28 years of a stellar career, yet not once has the Duo seem to be public-friendly and their persona seems to be majorly shrouded in secrecy, hence it comes as no surprise that the reason for their split remains unknown. Daft Punk has been an enigma and in other to understand them, let us take a peek into their biography.
What we need to know about the band Daft Punk
Daft punk was an electronic music duo that was formed in 1993 in France, Paris. The duo consists of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. They gained prominence in the late 90s and since then till date, they have made seamlessly made hits in dance music history which cut across genres like pop, electronic, disco, indie rock, and funk music. Before 1993, the name Daft punk originated from a negative review in melody maker which dubbed their song as a “daft punky thrash”. The duo found the review amusing and went on to adopt a modified version of “Daft Punk” as their band name.
Daft Punk albums
In 1997, they released their first studio album titled “Homework” through Virgin Records. The album which comprises hit songs like “Da Funk” and “Around the World” was received with positive reviews and applause. Their second album “Discovery” (2001) had further success which supported by singles like “Harder, better, faster, stronger”, “digital love and “one more time” which was a super hit. In 2005 they released their third album titled “human after all”, but unlike the previous album, the latter was greeted with a lot of mixed reviews, though singles like “Technologic” and “Robot Rock” gained top recognition around Europe. When Daft punk left Virgin to Columbia Records in 2013, they produced their fourth and last album “Random Access Memories” which involved lead singles “Get Lucky” and “Star Boy”.
For me, I will put all “Random Access Memories” songs on repeat and play them all day without getting exhausted, it was as if they recorded those songs in the future, it never gets old. No wonder the album won five Grammy Awards in 2014 including album of the year and record of the year for their hit single “Get Lucky”. Speaking of Grammy Awards, the legendary duo won their first in 2009 for Best Electronic/Dance Album for their live album Alive 2007 which they recorded from their music tours from 2006 to 2007. Their first musical tour occurred far back in 1997. What is your favorite Daft Punk album or song?
Music style and influencers
The musical style of Daft Punk has mainly been attributed to electronic, dance, and disco genres. According to Sean Cooper of All music, their musical style is a blend of acid house, pop, hip hop, indie rock, techno, funk, progressive house, and electro. In their single “teachers” under the album “Homework”, the Parisian duo listed musicians that influenced their musical style and notable names mentioned were Dr Dre, George Clinton, and Detroit techno and Chicago house artists which includes Romanthony, Paul Johnson, and Todd Edwards. Remix editor Chris Gill captured an interview Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo (one of the Daft Punk) who admitted that the music of their mentors had a huge effect on them. He went further to explain that the production, the compression, the sound of the kick drum the soul, and the emotion of their mentors were part of what they sounded like.
Appearance
Daft Punk has always done things their way which has kept fans guessing what to expect from the enigmatic legendary duo. In the 90s, Daft Punk appeared on promotional interviews with black bags on their heads or Halloween masks. Daft punk began wearing their trademark robotic chrome helmets and gloves in 2001 and since then that has been how they have appeared on concerts, shows, award nights, interviews, and other promotional appearances. The manner and mode of their public appearance have been purposeful, thus it has not been for showbiz or a show-off. Overtime in the past the Daft Punk duo has given several reasons for the mode of their appearance, amongst which has been chiefly due to their introverted nature, Security obsession, and because they want the focus to entirely be on their music.
Apart from the last reason, the rest details for the mode of their appearance may sound absurd and weird to many fans and if you are among those set of fans, then I would love to give Daft Punk the privilege to advocate for themselves. In 1997, the more vocal duo Bangalter said Daft Punk had a “general rule about not appearing in videos“. So even before the glitz and glam of stardom, they already had a philosophy on how they wish to appear. Despite their philosophy, the duo has often admitted that their costume was initially a result of shyness, with time, fans got fond of it. According to the duo, if they hide behind the outfit and still get noticed, it is a win-win for everyone. The most captivating illustration Daft Punk gave was when Bangalter said staying behind the costume is likened to the idea of being an average guy with a superpower, this statement portrays humility. In summary, Daft punk was a duo who was goal-oriented, highly philosophical, humble, and disciplined.
Fans reaction to their break-up
Due to their uniqueness, style, and persona, it comes as no surprise that fans and celebrities all over the world have expressed their emotional farewell and wished them the best of luck. My top 4 heartfelt reaction from fans in the comment section of their “Epilogue” video includes, “one of my dream will never be fulfilled, to go to their live concert” (Pedro Gomes), “they achieved what they wanted to do, farewell robots” (Brandon Andrade), “I love how this is their announcement to the world that they are saying goodbye. No words. Just art. It’s absolutely beautiful” (Otto Mondo), and lastly “so that’s it, eh boys, no huge media drama, no big last album, just one more video saying goodbye, one more time” (Braden Greenberger).
Arguably, I believe I am the biggest fan of Daft Punk because I felt the pain of their breakup most. 28years, 4 albums, 2tours, 6 Grammies, 1 movie, 2men, 2robots, 1 legacy. Farewell Legends, I am glad you existed.
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