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Daft Punk goes big on new album with 9 human collaborators and Yves Saint Laurent fashion

Daft Punk goes big on new album with 9 human collaborators and Yves Saint Laurent fashion

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Coachella teaser features Pharrell Williams on vocals, Nile Rodgers on guitar

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daft punk (yves saint laurent)
daft punk (yves saint laurent)

Daft Punk's fourth studio album will be out on May 21st, and the group is pulling out all the stops with a big team of collaborators, a sharp new look, and savvy pre-release marketing. Thanks to a teaser video shown at Coachella, we now know that the French electronic duo will be joined by at least nine other musicians on their new album, Random Access Memories. According to the teaser, Random Access Memories collaborators include The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Animal Collective's Panda Bear, Paul Williams, Giorgio Moroder, DJ Falcon, Chilly Gonzales, Todd Edwards, Pharrell Williams, and Nile Rodgers. The clip comes in just under two minutes and gives an extended preview of "Get Lucky," with Pharrell singing lead vocals and Rodgers on guitar — each donning Daft Punk's futuristic glitter.



The video is clearly a bootleg, but that's just how Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo wanted it to be. As Rolling Stone reports, the duo was dressed in "civilian garb," watching the teaser play for the crowd at Coachella and the giddy tweets that came afterward. "The fun part will be seeing the footage people shot when it hits the internet," Bangalter told Rolling Stone.

"We were trying to make robotic voices sound the most human they've ever sounded."

While Daft Punk's album is still largely a secret, Rolling Stone has some new details about its genesis. The group began working on Random Access Memories in Paris in 2008, but without a plan to release it. "After three records, there was a sense of searching for a record we hadn't done," Bangalter told Rolling Stone. Unsatisfied with early demos, the artists reportedly relaxed their reliance on electronic equipment. "We wanted to do what we used to do with machines and samples, but with people." Bangalter told Rolling Stone. "There's this thing today where the recorded human voice is processed to try to feel robotic. Here, we were trying to make robotic voices sound the most human they've ever sounded, in terms of expressivity and emotion."

"The robots as artists have evolved."

Part of Daft Punk's new "people" approach clearly involves its extensive list of collaborators, and the group hasn't kept them completely under wraps. Four of Random Access Memory's collaborators — Nile Rodgers, Todd Edwards, Giorgio Moroder, and Pharrell Williams — have spoken about their work on the album for Vice's The Creators Project. "Some of the best artists make you feel good, they look to the future" Rodgers says. "On Random Access Memories, I wanted to be Nile, but I wanted to be a new Nile. The robots as artists have evolved."

New sounds aren't the only thing that Daft Punk is teasing. Consequence of Sound reports that Daft Punk's new apparel has been designed by French fashion studio Yves Saint Laurent. The collaboration began in October 2012 when the music group was commissioned to lay the soundtrack for Saint Laurent Paris' debut fashion show. You can check out more photos of Daft Punk's new sleek, shiny look at the fashion house's website.

Update: An HD preview of "Get Lucky" aired tonight during Saturday Night Live.