In 2021, Daft Punk broke up after releasing four funky studio albums between 1997 and 2013. The enigmatic robots later revealed that it was because, well, technology is pretty evil-coded now, and although they've continued doing things like unearthing studio footage and releasing a drumless edition of their beloved final LP, 2013's Random Access Memories, there's understandably a void.
But according to Random Access Memories session drummer Quinn Smith (known primarily just as Quinn), the duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo recorded — and ultimately shelved — another album in 2018, which may still see the light of day.
In a recent interview, Quinn remembered spending "four, five days" with Daft Punk at Henson Studios in Los Angeles sometime in 2018. He claimed that some of his best work was on this lost album and that it might not be totally lost: “At the moment, it’s supposedly coming out of the locker, I hear," the drummer said. "And they’re going to do something with it, I hope.”
He went on to say that the duo had given him permission to talk about this unreleased record, which he likewise says he was "the first person, the very first person" they called in to work on it. Apparently, Bangalter was "just experimenting" at the time, and the album has "a lot of spontaneous things on there." Session guitarist Paul Jackson Jr., who also played on Random Access Memories (as well as a bunch of Michael Jackson records) reportedly also came in to record, and "one other guy came in doing winds."
You can watch the interview with Quinn below.
Bangalter is set to release the score for Mr. Oizo's Salvador Dalí Film DAAAAAALÍ next month.