THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Approaching the 20-year mark of their storied career, Chromeo unveil their sixth studio album Adult Contemporary. The aptly named LP sees the iconic Canadian duo of Dave 1 (Dave Macklovitch) and P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel) exploring what it means to be funky in your 30s and 40s. As the riotous early 2000s era that propelled them to indie superstardom becomes the stuff of legends, the Funklordz approach this new chapter with their groove intact.
Chromeo’s previous two LPs were more collaborative than their early material, and certainly were career milestones: 2014’s White Women earned them their first Top 40 hit and 2018’s Head Over Heels their first Grammy nomination. But Adult Contemporary marks a return to the duo’s original formula: Dave and Pee wrote, produced, performed and arranged every single song, honing in on the intimacy of their relationship — they’ve literally spoken every day for the last 30 years. After spending the last couple of years lending their production talents to the likes of Omar Apollo, Blu De Tiger, Ian Isiah and Onyx Collective, Chromeo locked themselves in their L.A. and Brooklyn studios and concocted their most musically expansive, lyrically focused, sonically polished and, above all, their most honest record to date.
Across the album’s 14 tracks, Chromeo navigate adult relationships in a contemporary world, traversing themes of commitment (Lost And Found), monogamy (Got It Good), attachment issues (Coda), sleepless nights (Ballad Of The Insomniacs), abstinence (BTS) and so much more. True to their trademark tone, it’s both unapologetically funny and disarmingly sincere, with nary a trace of irony.
Musically, it’s safe to say the Funklordz have entered their sophisticated Steely Dan era, matching their signature synth-work with lush string arrangements, slick horn sections and live instrumentation throughout. And while this is undoubtedly Chromeo now, Adult Contemporary’s only collaborations are a deliberate nod to the duo’s early days: The album is mixed by New York house legend Morgan Geist, mastered by French Touch hero Alex Gopher (Phoenix, Air) and its sole feature is La Roux, a close friend the band for over 15 years.
The single Personal Effects “is the last song we added on the album,” says Dave 1. “I was on a flight and the pilot said, ‘Please don’t forget your personal effects’ and I was like, ‘wait how come this isn’t a Chromeo song title?!’ We felt like we needed a little breezy funk… something warm and fuzzy to bop to. You notice that long instrumental bit at the end? That’s definitely a motif on the album: Extended sections where we let the music ride out. Adult Contemporary is a meditation on modern, mature relationships, which means: if we gotta sing about curling irons, so be it.”
After almost two decades of shiny synths and sharp lyrics, Chromeo have set themselves apart as dedicated scholars of the groove, proving time and again that no one does it quite like them. Across their five LPs, Dave 1 and P-Thugg established an electrofunk sound that has become the lingua franca of pop music. Together, the inseparable friends have toured the world over, perfecting a musical and visual language that is now instantly recognizable — and more refined than ever before.”
