I'll admit from the jump that I know next to nothing about Chromeo. Until I posted the artwork from their forthcoming fourth album White Women, I was clueless as to how many members were in the group. If you'd told me 2 or 10, I could've been talked into believing either. I had no idea that the duo of David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel, better known as Dave 1 and P-Thugg, hailed from Montreal or that they'd been going strong since the release of She's In Control in 2004. All I had was this vague conception of Chromeo as some sort of goofy, electronic-tinged act.
So it was somewhat disconcerting for me to see this morning that the latest preview from the White Women LP featured none other than Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig. I haven't exactly been shy about my admiration of the band and while they've been able to loosen up before, "goofy" is not a primary word I would use to describe them. I was worried that Koenig could descend into a garish pit of cheekiness that would be difficult to crawl back out of. However, all of my fears were allayed as soon as I actually heard the track. The reflective piano opening the track as Koenig coolly hums, is distant kin to the gliding keys found in "Hannah Hunt". His realization "I just can't pretend I'm gonna make you mine," is the much-needed eye-opener after the relationship dreaming that marked "Ya Hey". And then, as Koenig bows out, Dave 1 rides in on electronic burbles and reaffirms his sentiment. "I never wanna be the last to know," he calmly protests atop a bed of sonic burbles. What read as disjointed on first glance is in fact united.
White Women is out 5/12 through Big Beat, and if you pre-order the release you instantly receive four songs.
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