There’s something very strange about disco in 2026. Just recently the electronica producer Tudor Acid made a concept album built around the idea that turn-of-the-millennium French disco-house and the sounds that imitated it (think: peak Daft Punk, “Lady” by Modjo, “Murder on the Dancefloor”, any number of Kylie songs) is so deeply etched in our past and present experience by its relentless omnipresence that it has become emotionally deeply complicated.
What’s stranger is hearing Chaka Khan, who made her name in the original disco era and was sampled by Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter for "Music Sounds Better With You", making an album almost entirely in this hyper-digital, well-drilled, pristine version of the sound. This album is produced by Greg Kurstin and co-written with Kurstin and Sia Furler – both industry titans, with quite possibly trillions of streams under their belts, but by no means disco specialists – and is very much in the ubiquitous modern style. The thing is, Khan’s voice sounds as full of personality as it ever has, and is notably not processed to death – which on backing tracks that could very easily be for Kylie, Dua or anyone else is… not what you’d expect.
Even stranger still, this contrasts radically with her 2019 Hello Happiness mini-album – which, while absolutely 21st century and digital in approach, combined the very best of the modern (Neptunes style R&B) and the old (raw funk with hammond organs and analogue keyboard solos) and was anything but generic. It was, in fact, a mighty record and unique in a way this one very much is not. Not that Chakzilla is a bad record, not by a long shot. Not only does Khan radiate presence and musicality – plus there are super fun moments like Snoop Dogg doing the George Clinton impression he was born for early on in the album – but Kurstin and Furler are master craftspeople and this is the state of the art. The songs are good, the beats are good, it’s crisp, crunchy and funky. But wow, hearing an originator interfaced with a hyper-real post-post-post-disco simulation is strange.
Listen to "Chakzilla":
