It is the year 2017. Mankind had fled planet Earth. U.S. president Donald Trump (yes, the business magnate) has deemed himself Supreme Emperor of Everything, after being left behind as the sole inhabitant of Earth.
As scouting ships head towards possible Planet Earth IIs, humanity celebrates their bright future. The soundtrack is Automaton, the eighth studio album from English funk, dance, acid jazz band Jamiroquai.
Frontman Jay Kay, upgrades the scene with a portal of funkadelic escapism. No one can touch you in the funky future: “Music still infecting me / Music still protecting me, yeah.”
This is tight and well-organized modern disco. It features vintage synths, a quick kick, and other assorted jingles that’ll make you say “What the funk!?” Among spacy dance thumps, on “Dr. Buzz,” Kay sings “Ooo, help me Dr. Buzz” — a loosely political lyric about the Wild West. “Man,” Kay sings, “The west is getting so wild.”
On the Tron-esque title track, Kay sings “I said goodbye to the world I knew / And took off into inner space” and he takes us with him, deep into outer space.
Also, Kay is still wearing funky hats.
