Safe And Sound

Album: Woman (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • Justice's first new track since the release of 2011's Audio, Video, Disco features a chorus of angelic vocalists describing a night-time drive over the Parisian group's signature elastic funk basslines.
  • The song was released on July 13, 2016. It was the song's summery feel which prompted the pair to share the track. "It's too much like summer not to share it," Justice's Xavier de Rosnay told BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac. "We thought it would be a shame not to give it to the world."
  • The song features slap-bass grooves, a technique whereby a percussive sound is produced by slapping the strings with the thumb and popping notes by pulling the string with the fingers until it snaps against the fingerboard. Slap playing is used in disco and funk, with notable exponents including Bootsy Collins and Larry Graham. The Red Chili Pepper bassist Flea is also well known for playing bass with a slapping technique.

    Xavier de Rosnay commented to Fact Magazine: "There's something a bit show-offy about slap bass that works in the context of this tune. Where's the fun in slap bass if it's not a bit show-off and a bit shred, you know what I mean? We thought we could push it quite far because the rest of the song is fairly simple and repetitive. It's a very cold disco track - the choir and the strings give it warmth and life, but the rest is programmed to sound like a futuristic computer disco."

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