Dave 1 (born David Macklovitch), the guitarist and lead vocalist for Montreal funk duo Chromeo, is ready to work on new material, even though their album "White Women" came out in May. "We're going to start on a new album in December," he said, "Why wait?"
On the road for the band's Frequent Flyer tour, which stops at the Rialto Theatre this Friday, Dave has left his previous career as a French professor behind for now and is embracing the fame that has come with the song "Jealous (I Ain't With It)," which you might recognize from its appearance in commercials for Google Play and a hard apple cider. "I'm really happy with what we did with 'Jealous,' and we're ambitious as a band. We've never chased commercial success, but we're starting to reach new heights as musicians and songwriters and we want to keep at it."
For a while, it seemed like Chromeo would stay a cult favorite, an act whose revivalist funk, playing off the talkbox-heavy sounds of Roger Troutman and other '80s R&B acts. However, the band has recently graduated from the side-stages and early set-times at festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza to more prominent spots, including a just-before-the-headliner spot at Coachella this April. Part of this breakthrough, Dave attributes to the difference in sound and approach they brought to the new album. "The last record (2010's "Business Casual") we were trying to get deep, but this album's definitely more effusive, bringing it back to the early Myspace days, but more sophisticated," Dave said. "We worked a lot harder on it, it's the most effort we've put into anything."
For long-time fans or those just jumping into their music, Chromeo is promising a show well worth paying for in their first effort in Tucson. "We've got the dials set for optimized funkiness," Dave promised. "The live show is a spectacle with entertainment in mind, not too indulgent, but lots of dancing and lots of smiles."
