Cole Cuchna

Initially, the vocoder was this kind of very monophonic, stepped robotic voice, where here there's the whole intonations, the vibrato.

I think a very strong influence on that was Herbie Hancock.

We would play that and put the vocoder on and really work with the melodies on the right hand.

All the intonations, vibrato, legato, and portamento on the left hand with the modulation wheel.

Everything is done like that, and we spent weeks recording vocals like that, to really try to grab those intonations that almost feel like the robot voice is getting more and more human, but still has that robotic quality."

With that level of craftsmanship in mind, let's listen again to part of the verse, this time focusing on those subtle, human-like inflections.

Now as Random Access Memories continues, we arrive at one of its standout tracks, Instant Crush featuring Julian Casablancas from The Strokes.

Daft Punk had been fans of The Strokes since their emergence in the late 90s, and according to Casablancas, Tomas and Guimond approached him with a specific story they wanted him to bring to life, a story about a boy instantly falling for a girl when they were young.

Here's Casablancas telling this story to K-Rock Radio.

Casablancas goes on to say that he initially wrote lyrics that told this story verbatim, but when it came time to set them to music, they fell off, so he was forced to go in another direction.

Musically, the instrumental for Instant Crush carries much of the song's emotional weight.

Its mid-tempo groove and a minor key creates a sorrowful, melancholic atmosphere, a mood that's deepened by a descending melody first played on synth.

The motif here spans a minor third, an interval commonly used to evoke melancholy.

The melody is also descending, which also evokes a kind of morose quality.

The last two notes of the melody emphasize a minor second, a notoriously dissonant interval, which also helps create emotional tension.

When Casablanca enters the song, he doubles this same synth melody, his affected robotic vocal almost becoming one with the synthesizer.

Knowing the song's backstory and Julian's stream of consciousness approach to the lyrics is extremely valuable when attempting to dissect them, because a lot of the lyrics are surreal and don't make logical sense.

However, the first verse does start out clear enough, as he sings, I didn't want to be the one to forget.

I thought of everything I'd never regret.

A little time with you is all that I get.