DAFT PUNK. Separated for a year, the French duo Daft Punk had still planned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their first album, “Homework”.
[Mis à jour le 23 février 2022 à 11h06] A few publications on social networks, a live on the Twitch platform… And the Web ignites. A year to the day after their separation, on February 22, 2021, the French duo Daft Punk made their comeback … on social networks. During the night, on Twitch, the Frenchies broadcast a live concert at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles, dating from December 1997 and remastered for the occasion. On the video, we discover Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo who did not wear, at the time of this tour data direct, no headphones. Proof of the still present enthusiasm of Daft Punk fans: the live Twitch, now deactivated, reached more than 180,000 spectators overnight.
Another stroke of genius for Daft Punk, the time of broadcast of this live on Twitch: at 2:22 pm, or 10:22 p.m. French time, on 02.22.2022. After this coup, the album Homework, remastered for this 25th anniversary, was released on all streaming platforms. It is made up of fifteen remixes and will be released on vinyl on April 15th. Needless to say, this return, as specific as it is, has sparked a wave of hope for a reformation of the duo. Many theories are flowing in this direction on the Web. But can the return of Daft Punk really be heralded by this surprise release? Nothing is less sure.
It was a year ago. The mythical French duo Daft Punk announced their separation in a video posted on YouTube on Monday February 22, 2021. The video, which lasts almost eight minutes, is an extract from their film released in 2006 electrome. “1993-2021,” the video reads as an epitaph. The date 1993 corresponds to the beginning of the Daft Punk adventure, a duo formed by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and which will have been the standard bearer of the French touch in the world for 28 years.
A surprise separation and without official reason which created a global shock wave on social networks, where tributes are counted in the hundreds of thousands and raised many questions.
It is therefore via a video of almost eight minutes that the most famous French duo in the world announced their dissolution, Monday February 22, 2021. The clip, which lasts almost eight minutes, is an extract from their film released in 2006 electrome. We discover them here in the desert, helmeted, one of them exploding. The day after its publication, the video Epilogue exceeds 10 million views on YouTube.
A separation without even a musical goodbye? The pill is hard to swallow for Daft Punk fans. From their album Random Access Memories, released in 2013, fans of the French duo are desperately waiting for a sign from the performers of One more time. Daft Punk had since only appeared in 2016 alongside singer The Weeknd, for two singles, I feel it coming and Starboy. The rumors of return had also ignited the Web during the half-time of the Superbowl, where the admirers of Daft Punk awaited their arrival. So, is this really the end of the duo or a publicity stunt before a return to music?
If the Daft Punk adventure is really over, the duo will take the secret from their face. Since their debuts, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, their open-face appearances have been rare. But if you look carefully, it is easy to find images. In 1996, a series of photos shows the duo without headphones in their debut, during a performance in a nightclub in Dijon. Another snapshot, in black and white, reveals the identity of the two friends, this time in 1995 in London, when Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo were only 20 and 21 years old. More recently, the latter were photographed during the release of Random Acess Memories in 2013, or by paparazzi, at Los Angeles airport, then upon their arrival in Roissy. A sequence unveiled at the time by the American site TMZ.