Giorgio Moroder’s influence over popular music has rarely been more plain. His synth meddling and disco smarts have become blueprints for modern hitmakers, keen to tap into the exuberance and forward-thinking cool of his best work. After a 30-year gap, ‘Déjà Vu’ is his return to the fold as a headline act. As an effort to reshape a scene he helped to define in the first place, it falls flat.
It’s not that Moroder can’t cut it in a technical sense, more that the vast majority of songs here fail to register in any meaningful way. Lyrically vapid, safe and reliant on second rate hooks, they lack personality and any sort of provocative edge.
The cast list here is suitably stellar, but largely wasted. Sia provides one of the few high points with the title track, an infectious disco tune lit up by the idiosyncrasies of her vocal style, while Marlene also fares well with the boisterous I Do This For You.
Elsewhere, though, Charli XCX, Kylie Minogue and Kelis fail to make much of an impression, the latter hamstrung by over-production and an ineffective piano break. The Britney Spears collaboration - a cover of Suzanne Vega’s Tom’s Diner - is irredeemable.
Perhaps the best moment on ‘Déjà Vu’ is reserved for Moroder himself. 74 Is The New 24 has been around since the end of last year but still sounds vital and menacing in its relentless momentum. It’s very much a one off.
To pick through Moroder’s comeback is to be disappointed at almost every turn. Over to Barry of Championship Vinyl for the closing sentiment: “Is it in fact unfair to criticise a formerly great artist for his latter day sins?”
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