Air Lend Signature Sound To Silent Film, Le Voyage Dans La Lune

“ For each album, we take the listener by the hand and lead him somewhere. That's what music does.
” Nicolas Godin Fourteen years ago, French synth-pop duo Air released their debut album, Moon Safari, to now legendary acclaim for its perfect synth-pop constructions. Now they return to the lunar-indebted soundscapes with Le Voyage Dans La Lune, an original score written for a silent film from 1902 of the same name. Featuring vocals from Victoria Legrand of Beach House and Au Revoir Simone, Voyage finds Air revisiting their lunar themes of ’98 with more confidence and maturity, blending soft psychedelia with their brand of lush, atmospheric pop.

That said, Voyage is no grand experiment that leaves all pop aesthetics to waste. Air has decades of pop songwriting under their belts, and the two openers, “Astronomic Club” and “Seven Stars,” capitalize on their experience. Ms. Legrand’s vocals fit perfectly with the dreamy, innocent instrumentation, and “Club” starts off the record with an interstellar strut courtesy of languid drums and pitch-bent vocals.

The experimentalism of Voyage reveals itself in tracks like “Parade,” and “Sonic Armada.” The former shifts along various prog-rock eccentricities (floating synth leads, rapid-fire drumming, sheering guitars) to convey – I imagine – a parade of astronauts discovering the joys of treading lunar ground. “Armada” combines the space-funk arrangements typical of the late 70′s with swirling circus melodies – think Yes meets Voyager.

“Moon Fever” captures the beauty of Air‘s entire discography in just a few minutes: a cool piano line, mellow pads, and wispy melodies composed to score not just a silent film, but the daydreams of anyone with an imagination. Therein lies the magic of Voyage – it is composed according to a film, but will conjure images of lunar adventures independently.

Fans of Air – do not sleep on La Voyage Dans La Lune.