Put On Your Boogie Shoes — Disco is Back, Baby!
2022’s top stars are taking us from quarantine days to boogie nights!
Have you found your body boogying just a little more lately? Maybe it's an involuntary shoulder-shake while stuck in rush hour traffic. Perhaps a subtle shimmy in the Starbucks line. Or maybe it’s a bit more pronounced. Instead of holding up the wall at your local lounge, you suddenly find yourself out on the floor busting a move.
Before you consult your medical provider about these beguiling rhythmic spasms, you might want to consult your Shazam app to find the name of the song playing in the background. It might not be your nervous system setting your hindquarters into involuntary motion, it could be the music!
You might have a case of Disco Fever!
Oh, you thought disco died in the early ‘80s? They said the same about polio.
While we were quarantining, our favorite contemporary artists were quietly taking a trip to the ’70s and returning with some funky four-on-the-floor rhythms to soundtrack our return to civilization.
I’m totally here for it!
Here’s a quick look at some of the current superstars who are quietly trading in the mid-tempo grind of the 2010s for a foray into boogie wonderland.
Full Spotify playlist included at the bottom. Per the Plethora of Pop ethos, all embedded YouTube clips are clean radio edits. The Spotify list features uncensored album versions.
“About Damn Time” — Lizzo
Amber Walters’ placement of Lizzo’s smash single amid her 10 Exciting Singles That Prove There’s Hope This Year In Music made the disco ball in my head start spinning. Our conversation in the comments ultimately proved the impetus for this piece.
Lizzo’s interspersion of rap bars may throw some less seasoned ears off the trail, but “About Damn Time” is pure disco goodness. The warm propulsiveness of the rhythm guitar and the celebratory shimmer of the keys are vintage. The sterility of the drum programming disguises the slightly modified four-on-the-floor beat, but your feet will find it, even if it takes your brain a minute.
Lizzo’s colorful persona and infectious energy make her a natural fit for disco, so it’s no surprise that as I write this “About Damn Time” sits atop the Billboard charts. The song’s breakout success marks the official coronation of the neo-disco trend that has been quietly bubbling since last year.
“Cuff It” — Beyoncé
In true bad girl style, R&B’s top star channels her inner Donna Summer for a sexy dance floor serenade. While many of the tracks on her superlative Renaissance album (my initial thoughts on the project) offer madcap mash-ups of dance music styles, “Cuff It” is straight out of the disco. Chic mastermind and iconic disco producer Nile Rodgers lends his trademark rhythm guitar. Soul renaissance man Raphael Saadiq provides the bottom, laying down a percolating bassline and vintage four-on-the-floor drums in addition to co-producing the track.
In true disco fashion, the lyrics are simple and repetitive — essentially hooks on top of hooks. But they innately capture the euphoria of an undulating crowd on a packed dance floor. Watch for this one to heat up parties well into the fall once DJ’s realize it’s the perfect chaser to Lizzo’s smash, and Beyoncé’s upcoming “visual album” undoubtedly brings the carefree vibe to life.
“Free Yourself” — Jessie Ware
In our conversation in her comments section, Amber pointed me in the direction of Jessie Ware as another artist bringing disco into the 21st Century. She is most certainly right!
While the drums on Ware’s latest lean more towards ’90s house, the unbridled liberation, physical and psychological, that drives “Free Yourself” embodies the spirit of disco. Vocally, Ware commands the frenetic production with power and style reminiscent of the ’70s icons from whom she clearly draws inspiration.
“Somebody Tonight” — Luxxury
Like Ware, Luxxury pairs disco with its musical descendants to make modern day magic. “Somebody Tonight” feels like an outtake from Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, putting a futuristic twist on the tried and true disco rhythm via its ambient soundscape.
Normally it’s the four-on-the-floor percussion that gives a song its disco bonafides. Here it’s the rubbery bassline that wraps itself around the drums’ subtle throb, corralling the song out of the cerebral space into which the ethereal synths threaten to take it, and root it firmly back on the dance floor.
“Out of Time” — The Weeknd
Multiple tracks on The Weeknd’s Dawn FM album (my thoughts) luxuriate in an aura best described as sci-fi disco. As much as I love the ingenious use of the Alicia Myers interpolation on “Sacrifice,” “Out of Time” gets the nod for the simple fact that if you close your eyes during the song’s 21-second instrumental build up, you can literally see the disco ball spinning.
“Out of Time” isn’t the song where you show off your grooviest moves. This is the one that spins as the night winds down, the euphoria descends, and clubgoers cling to the final moments of revelry (and their equally melancholic dance partner) as tight as a pair of hip-huggers.
“Skate” — Silk Sonic
The second single from Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s retro soul side project somewhat underperformed (at least compared to the world domination achieved by “Leave the Door Open”). In hindsight, maybe it simply came out a year too early. (I wrote about this album too.)
We were still more or less inside when “Skate” dropped in 2021, leaving few outlets to truly indulge in its muscular proto-disco grooves. Listen now, and it feels like a clear precursor to the neo-disco revitalization of 2022.
It’s got a funk tinged ruggedness reminiscent of the early ’70s jams that packed dance floors (and skating rinks) before the term “disco” was coined and corporate assembly lines sanded down the rough edges. Likewise, it’ll add a note of much needed grit to your otherwise pristine neo-disco playlist.
What other recent hits put you in the mind of disco? Drop ’em in the comments.
Now, what are you doing still sitting down? Crank up the playlist and get your groove on!
