Daft Punk have officially released the ‘drumless edition’ of their last album, ‘Random Access Memories’.
The French house pioneers have dropped the track-by-track reimagining of the iconic 2013 record, all without drums.
“This version strips away all drum and percussive elements from the album, giving listeners the ability to dive deeper into the layers of instrumentation on each track,” the duo previously said. Take a listen to one of the tracks below:
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the iconic album, which Daft Punk have celebrated with a special anniversary edition containing 35 minutes of outtakes and unheard demos.
In a documentary series about the album, Pharell Williams opened up about working with the duo, even filming his reaction to hearing future hit ‘Get Lucky’ for the first time: “Wow,” he said. “That’s my only word. Wow, man.”
NME this year explored how ‘Random Access Memories’ became the most hyped album of its era in a special retrospective feature. The record was their final album until the band announced their breakup back in 2021.
The pair have since spoken about the breakup in recent years, with Thomas Bangalter admitting he was “relieved” over the way that the band ended.
“The question I ask more myself is why we did end it rather than how it could last for so long,” he said. “It’s a lot like a story or mini saga – sometimes there’s a TV show that has a special place in people’s hearts and it keeps that place, and it runs for one, two, three, four, five, sometimes 10 seasons.
“There’s a moment where it ends and I think it’s actually interesting to have this opportunity to start, have the middle and to end it… [I was] relieved and happy to look back and say: ‘OK, we didn’t mess it up too much’.”