Chromeo

Chromeo is the Montreal duo that took 1980s funk and turned it into a whole aesthetic. Made up of David “Dave 1” Macklovitch on guitar and vocals and Patrick “P-Thugg” Gemayel on keys, synths, and talk box, the pair actually met as teenagers at Collège Stanislas in Montreal in the mid-1990s and started making music together not long after, officially forming Chromeo in 2002. Their friendship is basically the whole foundation of the group, and it shows in how locked-in their sound has always been.

Their 2004 debut album “She’s in Control” put them on the map, with the single “Needy Girl” turning into a genuine worldwide club hit that introduced people to their signature blend of electro-funk, soul, and disco. Critics reached for comparisons to Hall & Oates and Prince, which tells you exactly where Chromeo’s head was at: slick, warm, danceable music built on real musicianship instead of just studio tricks. They followed it up with “Fancy Footwork” in 2007 and “Business Casual” in 2010, records that expanded their sound while keeping that unmistakable talk box and synth-funk signature intact.

Chromeo has released six studio albums total, with three charting on the Billboard 200, most recently “Head Over Heels” in 2018 and “Adult Contemporary” in 2024. Along the way they’ve shared stages with Daryl Hall, supported Bloc Party, and played Coachella multiple times, including a 2023 set. In May 2020 they launched their own label, Juliet Records, giving them full control over how and when they put music out.

And in one of the more delightfully random honors a band can get, Chromeo found itself immortalized in paleontology in December 2025, when researchers led by paleontologist Jingmai O’Connor named a newly described fossil bird species Chromeornis funkyi in the group’s honor, with the name literally translating to “funky Chromeo bird.” It’s a weird, fun footnote for a duo that’s spent over two decades making music that still sounds like nobody else. More than 20 years into their run, Chromeo remains one of the most distinctive acts in dance music, funky, self-aware, and still doing exactly what they’ve always done best.