and our feet keep dancing!
[Video][Website]
[6.29]
Brad Shoup: The “Chic mystique” is how the band put it on the opening cut of their 1992 comeback effort Chic-ism. In the vein of any number of British acid chart hits from the turn of the decade, Rodgers framed the track as a declaration of Chic’s undying dancefloor power. But if they were still living, they were also evolving, in a manner: frequent dips into hip-house that neglected Rodgers and Bernard Edwards’ talent for robust pop production. Today, with Edwards and Tony Thompson gone, and Chic’s relevance demonstrated by a glut of pop singles nicking (or renting) that trademark crisp rhythm stroke, Rodgers retools self-reference as self-consciousness. Through the singer, he transports himself to ’78, to a dance floor in 2015, to the speakers of your car and your laptop headphones. There are references to — and interpolations of — past glories, but they’re more Rodgers’ memories than the public’s. Though the song slinks through nearly forty years — and there’s a turntable — this is a rework, constructed from an old demo that recently resurfaced. That’s likely why so much of this pops: the weedy sax, the masterfully busy bassline, Rodgers’ rhythm work (which is much less rubbery than on the last go-’round). No matter: as the man himself would tell you, good music is good music, no matter the era.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: If anyone deserves to do disco-revivalism, it’s Nile Rodgers, and thanks to stuff like his recent work with Daft Punk, this doesn’t sound too dated. That said, the lyrics are pretty insipid, but the groove is suh-weet, and Nile’s chicken-scratch guitar is eternal. I wish this were better, but it’s good. And it’s a party.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Their “Wham! ft. George Michael” moment? But seriously — it’s not bad. The backing vocals arranged to signify louder than Lenin and Kamenov singing “The Internationale,” the simulation of the deceased Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson, the commitment to furious riffage as moral imperative, not to mention Nile Rodgers’ commitment to a financial one.
[5]
Ashley Ellerson: Why are y’all called “Chic ft. Nile Rodgers” when he’s always been in the group? Moving past the name, the band is bringing back disco with a track that could’ve made the cut on Daft Punk’s last album. Let’s call it “Get Lucky Part 2.” New disco may be dead, even for the hit makers from decades ago, and my old soul aches for the past, but this song doesn’t get me gyrating the way “Everybody Dance” and “Le Freak” do.
[5]
Micha Cavaseno: Chic sorely lacks the presence of Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson’s physical forms to be the Chic it once was, but, you know, names are bigger than music, and we couldn’t simply be treated to a Nile Rodgers comeback. What’s sweet about this single is the simple fact that Nile’s having the most fun ever, dying to try the new studio techniques, even corny little things like sampled punch-ins and that DJ Scratch Sound Effect. Whereas his work with Daft Punk was drawn out of steely music muso talk, Nile offers himself again to old and new with a humility that belies his position in music.
[6]
Anthony Easton: This could have come from 1976, so the line about not wanting to live in the past is doubly ironic. But who cares? Watching masters of the form just produce the fuck out of something this tight and this beautiful is pleasure enough. It’s kind of them saying, all you indie pretenders, this is how you do it, this is our house, you are just renting it (pun intended). We should thank Daft Punk for this. I keep getting angry at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — when did any of its members make anything this beautiful, fully formed, and relevant?
[8]
Scott Mildenhall: Everything is there but the vocals. Whether it’s their modern production or general anonymity, they hold this back from achieving the feel its glistening back catalogue of constituents accommodates for. By and large it’s “Got To Love Somebody” made punchier, and that works, but until Nile actually does build a time machine and gets 70s Sister Sledge to record the vocals, the instrumental will be preferable.
[7]