Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, a.k.a. Air, were both born in 1969, but something tells me they missed that moon landing thing.
Since their career launched in the late ‘90s, the Versailles duo has diversified electronica with ‘70s-influenced synthesizer, psychedelic rock, house and techno. Air is that band whose songs you’ve heard remixed and played at a swanky bar in Saint-Germain-des-Pres (or SoHo, whatever’s cool this week) but couldn’t identify with Shazam. Their latest record, Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon), draws inspiration from the 1902 Georges Melies silent film of the same name.
“Cosmic Trip” uses Moog drums to counter the mood produced in Melies’ antiquated silent film, creating a hodge-podge of retro-futurism. Even for an experimental song, the beat is difficult to follow. It’s as if the group tried emulating their popular ‘98 single “Sexy Boy,” but undercut the fun with sporadic bleeps and overcooked synths. The lyrics sound more like announcements you would hear at the terminal of a Jetsons-esque commercial space station: “Welcome to the astronomic club/ Join us on our fantastic trip to the moon/ The rocket shell is now ready to take off.”
“Seven Stars” introduces a welcome shift in sound: cue beat, rhythmic constancy, actual lyrics. Victoria Legrand’s lethargic guest vocals add to the song’s lullaby feel, an upgrade from the awkwardness of “Cosmic Trip,” but still a little too eerie. Air comes closest to rejuvenating their trademark sound with “Parade,” an instrumental set incorporating subtler synths, guitar and constant, traceable drums, but the song ends where its bridge should begin.
Composing the hypothetical soundtrack to a 1902 silent film set on the moon was not an easy task. In the case of Le Voyage Dans La Lune, the filmic vision did not translate musically. Melies’ silent classic did it better—the sound of space is silence.
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