Aeroplane have never been anything but perfectly clear about where they stand on pop: they dig it. Of course the "they" is now a "he"—Vito De Luca—and whereas pop's presence in their previous work hovered between the club-friendly and the crossover, his latest single is car-radio through and through. In keeping with the Aeroplane ethos, though, it's more sepia spectacles than meat dresses.
Normally associated with Italo disco's loveable schmalz, in "Superstar" De Luca's net of influence is cast back further still to the big-haired theatrics of '70s bands like ELO and T-Rex. There's some nice vocoder squelch and ivory tinkling in this camp knees-up, but the one-man-band lacks lapels outrageous enough to hit the stadium epics of his go-to men. At a curt three minutes, its bridges and refrains are also rather hurriedly worked through.
Chromeo go cameo with a guest vocal/synth appearance over largely the same accompaniment. They're charming in their bubblegum ways, the Canadians, and the inclusion of masturbatory guitar solos near the end draws a wry smile, but if you go for one, make it The Krays remix for the simple reason that it sounds just like the Aeroplane of fonder memories.
Buy Aeroplane - Superstar at
  
Tracklist: Aeroplane - Superstar
 01. Superstar (The Krays remix)
02. She's a Superstar feat. Chromeo
03. Superstar
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