Chromeo – White Women [Electro-Funk/House]

Release date 12th/13th May 2014

Chromeo are a Canadian electro-funk duo formed in 2002 in Montreal by David Macklovitch (guitar, lead vocals) and Patrick Gemayel (keys, synths, FX and talkbox). They've had some buzz surrounding them in the dance music scene for a while now, and saw some mainstream success after their third album Business Casual grabbed them a spot on the David Letterman Show with their lead single, Night by Night, in 2010.

I have only heard a couple of their singles so far, but I was keeping an eye out for this album because 1. I love me some funk. And 2. Lots of people are excited for this release.

Generally speaking, the music and production is much the same from the duo; lots of electro style synthesisers, scratchy funk guitar riffs, slap bass lines, and the occasional vocoder thrown 

in.

A good number of the tracks on here are catchy, groovy, and well produced. Over Your Shoulder is one of the better fast-paced tracks on here; with a gorgeous bass line, rhythmic vocal melodies, rich, luscious synth arpeggios, and a groove so infectious you should really wear a face mask.  The lyrics on this track are firmly tongue in cheek, essentially saying that women should stop worrying about how they look; Chromeo are here and accepts them for who they are, so there’s no need to look any further. It's silly, a little arrogant, but fun nonetheless.

Another good track on here is Lost on the Way Home, featuring a vocal collaboration from Solange Knowles (Beyoncé’s sister) and is smooth slow burner, if a little bit too radio friendly and plain for my taste. It has some very sounding synths which swell and rise to great effect, and the vocal performances from David Macklovitch and Solange are on point. Although this isn't an especially memorable track, it makes for nice enough sunny afternoon barbecue music.

I feel the same way about many of the better tracks on here; Hard to Say No brings some uplifting, catchy melodies and a nice groove to the table, and the lyrics here deal with issues of sexual temptation, infidelity on the road, and the subsequent difficulties of maintaining a long distance relationship. It also has these lovely harmonic vocal motifs in the pre-chorus which I absolutely love.

However, there are an equal number of tracks on here that I absolutely do not love. Or can even stand.

Sexy Socialite for example, is one of the most annoying songs I've heard this year; while the instrumental is okay, the vocal melody is awkward and clumsy, and the lyrics are terrible. Basically, David Macklovitch spends most of the song complaining about shallow rich girls who spend their time drinking at clubs, sleeping around with douchebags, and not having a job. But then he points out that they should be with him so he can “fix them”.

Okay, good luck with that David.

Other tracks like Play the Fool, and Old 45’s deliver more pleasant enough background music, if you like your background music derivative, cheesy, and full of meaningless lyrics (Lana Dey Ray anyone?)

But the biggest offence on this increasingly irritating album is Ezra’s Interlude halfway through. Featuring a vocal collaboration from Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, this is one of the worst tracks I have ever heard.

I don’t mean just this year; this is one of the worst songs I have ever heard.

Firstly the production; it’s thin, dry, and badly mixed.

Secondly, Ezra’s vocal performance is weaker than a bio-degradable shopping bag; when the song “kicks in” at 0.50 his attempt at falsetto is so shockingly poor that I can barely stand to try and listen to the rest of the song, which is less than two minutes in length.  Thankfully he does stop.

Thirdly, why is this song here? It’s doesn't sound like it’s from the same album, and doesn't fit with any of the other songs; I get the feeling Chromeo only kept this track on here because they were worried about offending Ezra.

The mistakes and tedium continues towards the end of the album, Somethingood is another predictable funk track with a dull, repetitive chorus, recycled funk guitar riffs, and boring lyrics which last for an agonising 6:30.

Frequent Flyer delivers more boring lyrics and recycled melodies but at least it’s only 3:13 long, and although the last track, Fall Back 2 U is one of the better constructed tracks on here, with some great saxophone and talk box solos halfway through and a fantastic groove, but by the time you make it to this track you either won’t be listening, because you’re eating your barbeque and talking about the economy, or you’ll have put something else on.

I can’t fault Chromeo’s ability to make some excellent dance floor stompers; Come Alive, Over Your Shoulder, and Fall Back 2 U are all worthy of your attention, and will no doubt be the subject of some brilliant remixes in the next few weeks. However, as a complete album White Women is just another middle of the road funk record which isn't really worth a close listen.

The album art also looks like a complete afterthought.

If you need some feel-good background music for your pool party, this will do the job, but there are far better albums out there which create the same summertime atmosphere.

[3/10]

You can listen to a stream of White Women on iTunes radio (In the USA) or on Clash Music here.