Instant Crush

"Instant Crush" is a song by French electronic music duo Daft Punk from their fourth studio album Random Access Memories (2013). It features vocals from American musician Julian Casablancas, who co-wrote the song with Daft Punk members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. "Instant Crush" was released as the fourth overall single from the album on 22 November 2013.^[1] It was number 58 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Best Songs of 2013 list.^[2]

Production

While working on the Tron: Legacy soundtrack in 2010, Daft Punk met with Casablancas in their studio through a mutual friend.^[3] The duo, who are fans of Casablancas' band The Strokes, presented him with an instrumental demo track intended for use on Daft Punk's next album.^[3] Casablancas responded favorably to the demo upon listening to it and subsequently provided accompanying vocals, forming the basis for what would become "Instant Crush".^[4]

The song as it appears on the album was co-produced and sung by Casablancas, who also performed lead guitar. Daft Punk played additional guitar on "Instant Crush" as well as keyboards and synthesizers. Nathan East performed on bass guitar while John "JR" Robinson played drums and Quinn provided percussion.^[5] Critic John Balfe considered the song "appropriately Strokes-ish, even if [Casablancas'] trademark drawl is fed quite substantially through a vocoder."^[6] De Homem-Christo noted, "It is true that it is not his usual register, it is the way Julian reacted to the track so for us it is even more exciting."^[7]

Music video

Warren Fu directed the music video for "Instant Crush" with production by Daft Arts. He was previously responsible for the album artwork of Random Access Memories, and co-directed the video for "Lose Yourself to Dance". Tony Gardner and Alterian, Inc. designed character effects for "Instant Crush" and created statues from wax and fiberglass. Gardner previously directed Daft Punk's music video for "The Prime Time of Your Life" and was involved in the feature film Daft Punk's Electroma as well as the Alive 2006/2007 tour.^[8] Clips from the "Instant Crush" video were released exclusively on French news channel BFM TV on December 5, 2013.^[9]^[10] The full music video was released on Vevo the following day.

The music video has a 4:3 aspect ratio and has a film-like effect. It involves the love story of two wax figures on display at an exhibition hall: a French soldier who bears a resemblance to Casablancas, and a female peasant on display across him. The video is interspersed with shots of Casablancas singing. The two figures are later put into a storage room where a fire starts, causing them to fall over beside each other and hold hands as they melt. "Instant Crush" contains a brief appearance of the Daft Punk robot helmets, which were originally engineered by Gardner and Alterian. The video was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" as well as The Twilight Zone television series.^[8]

Commercial performance

"Instant Crush" debuted at numbers 29 and 37 on the singles charts of France and Sweden respectively following the release of Random Access Memories,^[11]^[12] spending sixteen weeks on the former chart.^[11] It also entered at number 198 on the UK Singles Chart^[13] and at number 16 on the United States Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.^[14]

Chart positions

Chart (2013-2014)	Peak position
scope="row"	Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^{[ 1]}	33
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders Dance)^[15]	9
scope="row"	Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)^{[ 1]}	10
Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia Dance)^[16]	6
scope="row"	France (SNEP)^{[ 1]}	5
scope="row"	Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^{[ 1]}	37
scope="row"	Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^{[ 1]}	43
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[13]	198
scope="row"	US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)^{[ 1]}	16
scope="row"	US Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)^{[ 1]}	20

Release history

On 20 November 2013, Sony Music Entertainment announced that "Instant Crush" would be released as the next single from Random Access Memories,^[17] serving as the fourth overall single from the album. It was distributed to radio stations in Italy two days following the announcement,^[1] and it was also released in Poland the same week.^[17]

Region	Date	Radio format	Label
Italy^[1]	22 November 2013	Contemporary hit radio	Sony Music
United States^[18]^[19]	6 January 2014	Triple A radio	Columbia Records
United States^[18]^[19]	7 January 2014	Modern rock / alternative radio	Columbia Records

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Corradini, Paola. "Daft Punk – Instant Crush (feat Julian Casablancas) (Sony)" (in Italian). Radio Airplay SRL. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-songs-of-2013-20131204/daft-punk-feat-julian-casablancas-instant-crush-19691231
↑ 3.0 3.1 "Daft Punk Geeks Out On Star Wars, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson & J.J. Abrams". KROQ-FM. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
↑ Ghosn, Joseph; Wicker, Olivier (18 April 2013). "Daft Punk Revient Avec Random Access Memories". Obsession. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
↑ Random Access Memories (liner notes). Daft Punk. Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. 2013.
↑ Balfe, John (3 May 2013). "First Listen – Daft Punk's Random Access Memories". entertainment.ie. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
↑ McCabe, Kathy (9 May 2013). "Daft Punk's human touch in new album Random Access Memories". news.com.au. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
↑ 8.0 8.1 "Daft Punk Unveil Video for 'Instant Crush'". Harder Blogger Faster Blog. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
↑ "Daft Punk : "Instant Crush", le nouveau clip, est sorti". RTL. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
↑ "Instant Crush Official first diffusion on French TV". Youtube. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
↑ 11.0 11.1
↑
↑ 13.0 13.1 "Chart Log UK: New Entries Update (1.06.2013 – Week 21)". zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
↑
↑
↑
↑ 17.0 17.1 "Daft Punk zaprezentowali właśnie okładkę do nowego singla 'Instant Crush', który w tym tygodniu trafia do stacji radiowych także w Polsce!" (in Polish). Sony Music Entertainment. 20 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
↑ "Alternative > Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
↑ "Triple A > Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.

External links

Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

v t e Daft Punk

Thomas Bangalter Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo

Studio albums	Homework Discovery Human After All Random Access Memories

Live albums	Alive 1997 Alive 2007

Soundtracks	Tron: Legacy

Remix albums	Daft Club Human After All: Remixes Tron: Legacy Reconfigured

Compilations	Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005

Singles	"The New Wave" "Da Funk" "Around the World" "Burnin'" "Revolution 909" "One More Time" "Aerodynamic" "Digital Love" "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" "Face to Face" "Something About Us" "Robot Rock" "Technologic" "Human After All" "The Prime Time of Your Life" "Derezzed" "Get Lucky" "Lose Yourself to Dance" "Doin' It Right" "Instant Crush" "Give Life Back to Music"

Other songs	"The Game of Love" "Giorgio by Moroder"

Films	D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes (1999) Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003) Daft Punk's Electroma (2006)

Related articles	Discography Alive 2006/2007 Stardust Together Élodie Bouchez Phoenix Darlin' Roulé Crydamoure

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