fall into place. And it has, but only because they were willing to put in the work. Chromeo is always bending and stretching, looking for ways to improve and build. They understand that treading in stagnant, tepid water is the quickest way to dilute your potential. At this point—four albums deep—the ’80s-era novelty factor has worn off, and their vision is as clear and lucid as ever. “Our whole thing from the onset was to do electronic music,” says Dave, “but from a traditional songwriting standpoint: verse, chorus, bridge, solo. We love solos. We talked about the leap on Fancy Footwork . Business Casual was a leap too: we went for sophistication, darker textures, and different ambiances. But we really wanted to take it up a notch on White Women .” Their newest album is a roller coaster with “key changes, major/minor shifts, [and] lifts in choruses,” according to Dave. They were finally together in one place for the making of it, “both in New York, in the same room, on a daily basis,” says Gemayel, and tweaked things down to the very last minute as to deliver it as fresh as possible. They break out of the restricting three- minute format and into a place where they can stretch their legs and get comfortable. Collaborations with Solange, former LCD Soundsystem drummer Pat Mahoney,Toro y Moi, Mtume singer Tawatha Agee (“Juicy”), andVampire Weekend’s Ezra Koening add to the bombast. “It’s the first time we opened the doors to the studio and let people give their opinions on our music at the very early stages of demos and ideas,” says Gemayel. “We had rarely taken any outside suggestions in the past.” Chromeo’s hospitality has only enhanced their sound. It’s made White Women —a title inspired by the work of photographer Helmut Newton—something of a crown jewel, a culmination that combines all the elements in their periodic table. Now, after nearly a decade of chromatic jams, they’re ready to take off again, pushing further and further into the far reaches of outer space where their emblem can shine brightest. “Personally, I’m driven by this obsession, and our sense of humor is what smooths out the long hours of practice, crafting, learning, trying, failing, succeeding, dissecting, composing,” says Gemayel. “All you need is one idea—stick to it.” .
“The main reason why She’s in Control and [its follow-up] Fancy Footwork sound so different is because we started to understand a bit more what our sound was going to be and what we were doing musically and technically,” adds Gemayel. “We were also just starting to grasp what this new world of analog synths and ’80s drum machines could offer to us and how to incorporate them into our ideas and songs.” Album two brought about big changes, one-half facilitated by engineering guru Philippe Zdar and the other by an influence from a motley crew of like-minded artists including MSTRKRFT, Cut Copy, and the Ed Banger collective. The bigger sound fit their ambition, and they ran with it, landing gigs at powerhouse festivals like Lollapalooza, SXSW, and Pitchfork. Those festivals are a breeding ground for hybrid sounds, and while ambiguity is half the fun, Chromeo stuck to their guns believing that if they stayed committed, everything would
“It is racist. The same way the ‘Disco Sucks’ movement was racist,” Macklovitch quickly adds. Understanding the nuances of such a misunderstood genre tunes Chromeo in to a more hushed narrative, a conversation that allows them to use yesterday’s tools for today’s sensibilities. But to saddle them with the title of ambassadors would be to undermine other notable things they do, specifically the way they balance influence and initiative, humor and integrity, the obscure and the universal. With their compass fine-tuned, they’ve been able to make well-calculated steps— from greenhorns to emerging superstars. “Let’s be honest: we didn’t really know what we were doing on the first album,” explains Macklovitch. “They were our first attempts at songwriting—my first attempts at singing, certainly.” Released in 2004, She’s in Control was a litmus test for Chromeo, the all-important first draft that would lay the groundwork for future endeavors.
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