Chromeo's New Video Lookbook on SSENSE

Lookbook for Men from Chromeo’s New Video

LookBook for Women from Chromeo’s New Video

CHROMEO CLOSE OUT THE BIGGEST YEAR OF THEIR CAREER

2014 has been a landmark year for the electrofunk duo of Dave 1 and P-Thugg, aka Chromeo. The pride of Montreal commemorated 10 years of being the “only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture” with the release of their critically lauded fourth studio album, White Women (Big Beat/Atlantic Records). Chromeo’s now iconic reinterpretation of the late great 70’s and 80’s funk and disco era — complete with the sultriest of R&B hooks and cockiest of classic rock riffs — reflects back on the culture from which they were born, while looking towards the future with decidedly modern production and inimitable, charmingly vulnerable lyrics. White Women, named one of “The Best Albums of 2014” by Complex, is the band’s most collaborative work to date, with cameos from Toro y Moi, Solange, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig and Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem, resulting in a record that is both elegantly timeless and eminently relevant.

This time around, Chromeo’s collaborative approach extended beyond music. The duo partnered early with Snarkitecture and Tumblr in an art installation at New York’s MILK Studios, titled The White Room, which served as a launchpad for the album. Chromeo then joined forces with longtime Parisian art directors Surface To Air to create beautiful bridal cover art, a cinematic album trailer set to “Over Your Shoulder” and a capsule clothing collection which premiered during New York Fashion Week. True to form, Chromeo’s vision was brought to life with superb videos: in “Come Alive” the Funklordz and Toro y Moi pay homage to the 80’s cult classic Mannequin, “Old 45s” stars Napoleon Dynamite and Haim amidst sweaty Flashdancers and“Jealous (I Ain’t With It)” has Dave and Pee run off with A$AP Ferg‘s wife. “Frequent Flyer” then came with a comedic stunt: a fake airline bankrolled by none other than Funny Or Die. Chromeo hit both high brow and low on this campaign, much like their hero Helmut Newtown after whom White Women was named.

White Women went on to debut at #1 on iTunes and landed #11 on the Billboard 200. SPIN described the album as “flawlessly produced”, Pitchfork called it “quietly fantastic” while Consequence of Sound applauded the duo’s ability to “bounce around between eras while still keeping a fresh sound”. The single “Jealous (I Ain’t With It)”, their biggest hit to date, premiered on Buzzfeed and was named the summer song of 2014 by Huffington Post, a contender for Stereogum’s “Song of Summer”, a top track of 2014 by both USA Today and Time Magazine and one of the 14 Dance Tracks Summer 2014 Can’t Do Without by MTV.com. The Funklordz were everywhere this year — featured in ads for the Golden Globes, Google, Oreo and Samsung. To top it all off, “Jealous” was the first Chromeo song to impact US Top 40 Radio.

In addition to the gleaming press on White Women, Billboard named Chromeo’s live show one of the top 10 performances at Coachella in April. Chromeo brought their incredible live show across the world, to main stages at Lollapolooza, Outside Lands, Bonnaroo, Osheaga and Austin City Limits. Festival season was bookmarked by not one but two sold-out North American Tours, selling out shows at Red Rocks, The Shrine in LA, two nights at Terminal 5 and Central Park Summer Stage in New York City. Adding to the list of notables for 2014, Chromeo pulled a late night television hat trick, playing with fellow Canadian punk rockers Death From Above 1979 as their backing band on Jimmy Fallon and following up with explosive performances on both Kimmel and Letterman.