Earlier this month I was telling you that American guitarist and Chic founder Nile Rodgers confirmed DAFT PUNK will definitely be releasing new material in 2013. Rodgers revealed he collaborated with the French electronic duo on new music, and describes the final result as “amazing”, and how at one point he was“dancing around my dining room” with DAFT PUNK themselves. On January 4th Rodgers wrote on his blog: “The next time I set foot in Japan, my collaboration with DAFT PUNK would have started to hit people’s eardrums, as well as a number of songs I’m working on over the next few months with a select group of artists, and of course finally, my lost CHIC and solo material. No matter how it ends, 2013 Won’t Be Boring!”
In the coming weeks — perhaps even days — we should be hearing from DAFT PUNK themselves because The Hollywood Reporter just broke the news that the duo is switching labels, moving from their long-time home at EMI for a brand new digs as the newest crown jewel at SONY’s Columbia Records (Depeche Mode recently made the same jump after being wooed by Columbia). Regarding the DAFT PUNK move, a source close to the deal tells THR, “It’s a done deal.” But what’s even more exciting is that Le Parisien is confirming Rodgers’ tip that DAFT PUNK’s fourth album will definitely be released this spring. And according to the team at FACT, “In addition to the Chic founder, the duo has reportedly worked with Paul Williams and Giorgio Moroder on the album.” Furthermore, according to Consequence of Sound, DAFT PUNK defied expectations by turning down a “gigantic sum of money” to perform at this year’s Coachella in Palm Springs in April.
With regards to a world tour, there is no act more secretive about these matters than DAFT PUNK. If there’s anyone who would know before anyone else if the duo is hitting the road in 2013 it would be Rob da Bank, the organizer of UK’s acclaimed Bestival. In a recent interview Rob said, “We got told months ago that DAFT PUNK were definitely not touring next year.” Then on January 13th Rob took to Twitter to backtrack: “On the DAFT PUNK thing — I’m not their manager, agent or mate so I have no idea if they’ll tour in 2013…or not! They may do 300 festivals!” For all FEELguide stories related to DAFT PUNK CLICK HERE.