Ah, Moon Safari… the two times platinum-selling 1998 album of dreams by French electro-pop wizards, Air. How well they’d go on to soundtrack Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. How well that original album continues to soundtrack our lives. The release was revolutionary. It was sexy. It was 20 whole years ago. With a new album in a very similar vein on the horizon (H+, out 16 March), Jean-Benoît Dunckel, one half of Air, is sharing something special on Valentine’s Day.
Fittingly titled Love Machine, the track’s swirling synths will send you floating off on your own space odyssey — probably naked, definitely blissed out. Full of declarations of love and admiration, it was a result of improvisations with conceptual artist Jacques Perconte, a long-time collaborator of Jean-Benoît. “I use the sound experiences of Air; I just extend my Air sound in a solo setting,” JB explains. “I don’t renounce the past, in fact I exploit it quite openly.” As do we, JB. As do we.