The video for lead single “Running For Time” depicts the pair as pizza shop workers dishing up hot vinyl platters (in lieu of actual pizza). However, they eschew the typical idea of concept albums by not praising pepperoni or cheese etc. and instead grab musical styles like funk, disco and pop as musical toppings to sprinkle over each songs electronic base.
This genre-hopping, time travelling jigsaw of compositions is intended to evoke the nostalgia of the duo’s youth, looked back on from the present as men in their 30s, but it actually digs further back for inspiration, and what hits the listener is a slightly over stretched metaphor that is lacking in complete cohesion.
That’s not to say there aren’t any juicy mosels to be had here, “Get Down” perfectly captures the 70’s disco sound while “The Music” begins with cascading string that spill out into another funked up disco ode to the era and having a good time. There’s a simplicity and almost naive love of the past, either of these could be forgotten club classic resurrected from Studio 54 or the french equivalent.
“Never Get Old” is a playful romp with energised, pulsing beats pumping up the heart rate as the lyrics remind us to hold onto the best bits of youth as long as possible before it fades into the distance. “Memories” also instructs us “If you feel down, just keep in mind / You can dive into your memories” and “If your head's dry then maybe it's time / For you to make some new memories,” thankfully without sounding like a tone deaf set of platitudes. What’s missing though is a banger to hang the bulk of the album around.
While the musical landscape is filled with evocative riffs and licks of the pairs own there are reminders of both Chic’s catalogue and Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories that cast a long shadow, “Watch Out” is in fact a little too close for comfort at times.
What could have been a reflective, joyful exploration of memories and a love for different times melts into an homogenous mix of rather transient and forgettable tunes unlike the classics they love so much. Opening Soon serves up some choice individual slices but it ultimately amounts to much less than the sum of its parts.
