Chromeo is a French Canadian duo, featuring David Machlovitch and Patrick Gemayel. They sometimes refer to themselves as the only successful Jewish-Arab partnership “since the dawn of human culture.” The duo specializes in a combination of soul, funk, R&B, disco and house music.
The Montreal duo have been compared to Daryl Hall and John Oates, in terms of their blue-eyed soul sound, but Chromeo adds a modern electronic-dance beat unlike anything Hall & Oates ever recorded. The duo has appeared on Daryl Hall’s “Daryl’s House” program, so there’s definitely a soul-connection between them.
To date, Chromeo has released five albums: She’s In Control (2004), Fancy Footwork (2007), Business Casual (2010), White Women (2014) and Head Over Heals (2018). They’ve also released a two-CD special edition of Fancy Footwork called Fancier Footwork.
They’ve released several singles, the most popular being “Needy Girl” and “Rage” (from She’s In Control), “Fancy Footwork” and “Tenderoni” (from Fancy Footwork), “Hot Mess,” “Don’t Turn the Lights On” and “When the Night Falls” (from Business Casual), “Jealous,” “Come Alive,” “Sexy Socialite” and “Old 45s” (from White Women), “Juice,” “Bedroom Calling” and “Must’ve Been” (from Head Over Heals.)
There isn’t much chart information available for Chromeo’s albums or singles. Fancy Footwork peaked at #11 on the U.S. Top Electronic Albums chart. Business Casual peaked at #44 on Canada’s Albums Chart, at #70 on the Billboard Top 200 and at #4 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronica Chart. White Women has been Chromeo’s most successful album, debuting at #6 in Canada, at #11 on the Billboard Top 200 and at #42 in England, their first album to chart in the U.K. Head Over Heals peaked at #74 in Canada, #91 on Billboard’s Top 200 and at #1 on Billboard’s Top Dance Albums Chart.
Chromeo’s albums have featured a vast array of famous guest artists, such as Solange, Toro y Moi, French Montana, Raphael Saadiq, A-Trak The-Dream and DRAM. White Women is my favorite Chromeo album. It was released in May of 2014 and I considered “Jealous” to be the song of the summer of 2014. I loved it. I thought “Count Me Out” and “Slummin’ It” would have been better singles from Head Over Heals.
Head Over Heals has been referred to as White Women II by some critics, but I think the album fails to live up to White Women. White Women has a fresher, more cohesive sound that burst from your stereo speakers like an electronica/dance wildfire. Time to sizzle!
Meditation to the Groove! 