Contact

When you dive into *Contact*, the last track on the album *Random Access Memories*, you encounter an experience that goes beyond music. The song begins with a sample from *We Ride Tonight* by the Australian band The Sherbs, a fragment that Thomas Bangalter and DJ Falcon had already used in a DJ set in 2002. What's interesting is that Daryl Braithwaite, one of The Sherbs' members, was notified of the sample's use and, along with Tony Mitchell and Garth Porter, received credit as co-author of the track, thus securing their royalties.

But the true sonic hook of *Contact* arrives with the incorporation of audio from the Apollo 17 mission, courtesy of NASA and astronaut Captain Eugene Cernan. DJ Falcon recalled that, while working in Paris, they felt the song needed something akin to a countdown. NASA provided them with access to their recordings, and they chose a fragment where "Bob," a skating nickname of Falcon's, is mentioned. The voice of Eugene Cernan, who was the last person to leave the lunar surface on the Apollo mission, closes the album in a very unique way. The production, handled by Daft Punk and DJ Falcon, included modular synthesizers played by themselves, bass and drums performed by James Genus and Omar Hakim respectively. It is said that the final sound, with its progressive layers and a powerful guitar chord, managed to blow out the studio speakers, evoking the power of a rock concert.

The album *Random Access Memories*, released on May 17, 2013, was conceived as a tribute to American music of the late 70s and early 80s, especially that of Los Angeles. The recording sessions spanned from 2008 to 2012 in various studios in California and New York, in addition to the Gang studio in Paris. Unlike the more minimalist production of their previous album, *Human After All* (2005), for *Random Access Memories*, Daft Punk opted to incorporate live instrumentation, seeking a more organic sound. The song *Contact* ranked 46th on the singles chart in France and number 24 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart, demonstrating its reach even as an album closer.