THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AT WAR AGAINST COVID-19
work of this R&B and soul singer whose latest album, What’s Your Pleasure, was inspired by funk and disco sounds of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. “Jessie, the song Spotlight from the new album is like something clas- sic from the ‘70s and ‘80s, but of now as well … it will never date … My whole family adores you and your al- bum gives us comfort in these times,” said Elton dur- ing the podcast. Róisín Murphy, the music rebel who has broken away from the system of large record labels, spent the pandemic holding weekly concerts from her home that were watched by the audience via YouTube. She used the opportunity to announce her latest album Róisín Machine, which is inspired by the disco sound and her work in the duo Moloko. Lady Gaga enriched the pop scene with her album Chromatica, which takes a more modern approach to the sounds of the ‘80s, while Kylie Minogue paid direct tribute to the work of Daft Punk with her Disco album. Each of the aforementioned albums broke records in the number of listens via streaming services Spotify and Apple Music, managing to reach number one spot in charts based on sales. A world that’s eager to social- ise, hit the town and dance on a podium has gained at least the illusion that life hasn’t stopped thanks to the music industry’s most influential women. And unlike other artists who released albums during the pandem- ic, none of them make mention of isolation and lone- liness in their songs. On the contrary, they sing about the lights of clubs and loves that shine brighter than any disco ball, despite having recorded their vocals alone in their homes and sent the recordings to their producers. As Kylie Minogue said in an interview with the UK’s BBC: “It’s weird when you record your own voice in your own house and sing about disco fever. But at least you’ve escaped to some other place in your mind. I hope that the audience will too, because that’s our goal”.
Disco kitchen as a new dance podium Instead of concerts, audiences danced in their homes to beats and sounds that were popular in the 1970s and ‘80s, with a glass of wine and a shimmering lamp in the shape of a disco ball. A party, yes, but on Zoom
Kajli Minog je albumom Disco direktno odala počast radu Daft panka Kylie Minogue pays a direct tribute to the work of Daft
Punk with her album Disco
T he dance podium is unfortunately taking a break and will have to wait for some happier times to arrive, but there’s no room for re- morse. That’s because even though the COV- ID-19 pandemic has created physical distance between us, the music industry has spent 2020 endeav- ouring to make sure we’ve come closer together than ever before - in a virtual way. It’s really somewhat ironic that a great many music stars opted this year for a genre of music created for clubs and discos. Lady Gaga, Róisín Murphy, Jessie Ware, Ky- lie Minogue and Dua Lipa are the pioneers of the genre dubbed by Variety magazine analysts as “kitchen disco” - disco that currently can’t be enjoyed in clubs, but for which kitchens and living rooms serve as new dance po- diums. They didn’t invent hot water when it comes to the music genre itself, but by drawing inspiration from the albums of the likes of Diana Ross, Donna Summer and the disco-electronic sound of French duo Daft Punk, they’ve enriched 2020 with albums and songs that mu- sic king Elton John dubbed “timeless”. Specifically, in his conversation with compatriot Jes- sie Ware for his Rocket Hour podcast, he praised the
Svet koji je željan druženja, izlazaka i igranja na podijumu je, zahvaljujući najuticajnijim ženama u muzičkoj industriji, dobio iluziju da život nije stao / A world that’s eager to socialise, hit the town and dance on a podium has gained at least the illusion that life hasn’t stopped thanks to the music industry’s most influential women
Disco » Disko | 39
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