The Timely Exiting of Daft Punk and Us

Often when we reflect on what happens around us, events are grouped. This is not to connect them objectively; it isn’t done to find coincidence or measure cause and effect. What it does is allows us to process and explore what is meaningful. I remember there is a word for this – synchronicity. Through this, we remember and commemorate. Through this process, we collectively and individually characterize a period in our lives, in an era.

You and I live in interesting times.

Nations with controversial leaderships, a global pandemic, a reevaluation of policing and civil liberties, and ever-increasing threats of foreign military powers; all these things are our problems to solve.

Then, on the 22nd of February, the musical super duo, DAFT PUNK, disbanded. They exited the stage with a poignant short film titled “Epilogue” Riffing on an earlier film they made, the duo parts ways with a bang and the screen fades to black with lyrics from their song “Touch”

( “Hold on,  hold on, if love is the answer, you’re home”).

The release of their video was synchronicity, full impact. The timing of it all seemed all too perfect and it felt as if it marked something significant, much more than just a music group ending.

Their ending also left me with a bitter sense of grieving.

The duo had a career that spanned  over twenty years, but I discovered them around 2004 after the development of their robotic persona’s (the backstory was the duo had to be reconstructed after a studio explosion) and the release of their hit album Discovery (2001). The concept album was also made into an animated musical titled Interstella 5555 (2003).

This film was what exposed me to their music and I was instantly captivated by both the concept of the film and the duo’s mix of synth, electronic house, and pop music- something that managed to sound futuristic and retro. The track “Aerodynamic” still can send tingles down my back.  At the time, I dealt with some intense chronic pain problems and I can recall days where their music gave me something else to focus on.

Years later, when I had gotten back on my feet again, DAFT PUNK provided the music again with a live album Alive (2007) and their soundtrack to the sci-fi sequel TRON: Legacy (2010). Some of the tracks became synonymous with warm nights and streetlights where anything could happen.

And again, at a crossroads in life, Random Access Memories (2013) dropped. I had decided to move home after not seeing the prestige in a prestigious private college. I bought the album days before leaving and listened to the whole album on repeat on the long drive back to my hometown. The music renewed me and the whole album seemed appropriately in sync with what I was discovering.

DAFT PUNK held a monumental presence in my life for over a decade. They familiarized me with new music genres and sparked my imagination with their creativity. Then in a singular moment, they weren’t part of it anymore. I’m sure many fans felt the same.

I’m sure the super duo had a good reason to walk. Twenty years is a long time. Keeping up the mystique of their robot selves must have been weary. Most bands with a novelty don’t last even half as long. Producing the same type of music may have become a chore or not as fun.  They gave enough to the world, it’d be greedy to ask for more. But it is sad to think there will be no new music from the duo; no further evolution.

We look for meaning in troubled times. Events that are distantly related become grouped in our minds as a processing tool. These moments become representations of larger and more complex moments or ideas or events. Synchronicity. 

The moment DAFT PUNK chose to disband felt like a heavy blow when so much uncertainty and loss had already been dealt. It felt like their ending was the sum of all this chaos. But the way they left also presented questions and thoughts the same way many deaths can. Where do we go from here? What do we do now? DAFT PUNK left a legacy as so many artists have. While we can lament what else these talented people can do, we can be excited by what ideas they left behind; what new artists will pick up where they left off. After all, DAFT PUNK’s music captured the sounds of being limitless.

I say if we can hold on, let’s hold on. And listen.