HISTORY

The Knocks take inspiration from the golden ages of disco and house, when underground cred and universal acclaim went hand in hand. *HISTORY*, the New York duo’s third album, is a starry-eyed love letter to the transformative powers of dance pop. It’s front-loaded with big hooks and even bigger feelings: “Bodies,” featuring MUNA, works Fleetwood Mac-grade harmonies into a future-disco tearjerker; “R U HIGH,” featuring Mallrat, sounds like the saddest song Daft Punk never wrote; and “All About You,” featuring Foster the People, is a shimmering psych jam in the tradition of Spiritualized and Tame Impala. The Parson James-fronted “River,” meanwhile, is as sweetly cathartic as dance music gets. Positioned between throwback French house, ’80s teen movie soundtracks, and cutting-edge pop, *HISTORY* strikes a vibe as singular as it is vast.