Pharrell recalls working with Daft Punk on ‘Random Access Memories’

Pharrell Williams has recounted his experiences working with legendary French duo Daft Punk on their 2013 album ‘Random Access Memories’ – see what he had to say below.

• READ MORE: Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’ at 10: how it became the era’s most hyped album

In a newly released episode of Daft Punk’s ‘Memory Tapes’ video series to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ‘Random Access Memories’, Pharrell spoke about how he first got the opportunity to work with Daft Punk, and how he came to collaborate with them on two songs on the 2013 album.

Pharrell recalled The Neptunes meeting Busy P, who offered them the chance to remix Daft Punk’s ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’ in 2001. He also noted that if it weren’t for The Neptunes’ remix of ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’, he “never would have had that connection’ with the duo to later work on ‘Random Access Memories’.

Speaking on ‘Random Access Memories’, Pharrell said that he initially thought he was just going to be a songwriter on ‘Get Lucky’ and ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’, not realising that the vocals he had recorded for the tracks would end up being the final version instead of a demo intended for someone else to refer to.

“I didn’t know who was gonna end up singing it. I left the studio thinking, ‘Okay, can’t wait to see who sings and what it sounds like,’” Williams said. “I didn’t hear it for a year, so I forgot what the song sounded like, both of them.”

The ‘Memory Tapes’ video then shows a clip of Daft Punk playing a completed version of ‘Get Lucky’ and ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’ with Pharrell’s vocals for the first time. “I don’t remember writing anything because we were just in the zone,” Pharrell said.

Once he was done listening to both completed tracks for the first time, Pharrell reacted with an emphatic: “Wow… That’s my only word. Wow. That’s amazing. I’m so humbled and honoured to be a part of that.”

Earlier this year Daft Punk released a 10th anniversary edition of ‘Random Access Memories’ containing 35 minutes of outtakes and unheard demos. The original version of the album included the hit single ‘Get Lucky’ featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, and ‘Instant Crush’ featuring The Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas.

NME this year explored how ‘Random Access Memories’ became the most hyped album of its era in a special retrospective feature.

Last month, Daft Punk announced a new “drumless edition” of the record, which was their final studio album. The French duo are set to release a track-by-track reimagining of their 2013 Grammy-winning fourth record on November 17. You can pre-order it here (physical) and here (digital).

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