Air produce some of the most adaptable sounds around - music that works at parties, in the cinema, in the bedroom and even in Japan. The Gallic electronic duo tell Kevin Courtneyabout reaching the places other bands only dream of
IMAGINE you're in heaven, chilling out on a fluffy cloud, being fed nectar and honey by a host of angels, the new Air album floating out from the celestial CD player. Suddenly God appears and says, "Is that Air?"
This is more or less the scenario Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel pictured when writing Photograph, one of the more heavenly tracks off their new Pocket Symphony album. It's easy to imagine the French duo's music being playlisted in paradise: since they formed in 1995, their chemical mix of pop, lounge, easy listening and prog has reached the places other bands only dream of.
Whether you're at a cocktail party, in the cinema, at the art gallery, sharing dinner, having a quiet night at home in front of the TV, or even taking a trip to the moon, chances are you've heard an Air track wafting through the windmills of your mind.
"Because, you know, we like to experiment and to try some things that appeal to a lot of different people," says Godin. "We can take a different approach with each song, and because we go out - we go to gigs, we go to clubs, we go to exhibitions - we like to make music that can fit in these kinds of places."
Pocket Symphony is aptly named. Produced by longtime collaborator Nigel Godrich, and inspired by such class acts as Satie, Ravel and Ryuichi Sakamoto, the swirling keyboards, gently plucked acoustic guitars and unashamed romanticism of Space Maker, Once Upon a Time, Mayfair Song and Mer du Japon evoke Parisian riverside cafes, evening walks by the Seine and long afternoons relaxing in Japanese gardens.
"The main feeling that we want to bring to people is emotion and melancholy and love," Godin adds. "But still we search for new things; we feel we have to bring something new into some of our music, and to be more clever and sophisticated. But that does not mean we want to do something obscure. We want to appeal to many people and to give love and make people forget their problems."
PARIS
The fragrance of the French capital wafts from many of the tunes on Pocket Symphony, including Left Bank, Lost Message (which Dunckel describes as a "modern Emmanuelle soundtrack") and Night Sight. Guest vocalists on the album include Jarvis Cocker, who now lives in Paris, and Neil Hannon, who may as well be Parisian ("because he wears a scarf," says Dunckel). One Hell of a Party finds Cocker surveying the ruins of the bachelor pad the morning after, while Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping catches Hannon in a twilight zone of his own.
The four met while working on Charlotte Gainsbourg's album, 5:55. "We are big fans of Serge Gainsbourg, and we remembered the song she sang with him," recalls Godin (1985's Lemon Incest, a pervy pop anthem that shocked France).
"Jarvis and Neil were writing the lyrics for the album and so, during the time we spent producing the album, we got to know them, and when we finished the album for Charlotte we wanted to keep working together, because that's how our collaborations work. We meet someone through production or working on something else, and then we very naturally start working together. We don't just go, who will we get on our album this time. It depends on who we meet at the time."
JAPAN
The track Mer du Japon came about when Godin's girlfriend ("she isn't my girlfriend; she is my muse") suggested he do a track that evoked the land of the Rising Sun. So Godin learnt from an Okinawa master how to play the koto and the shamisen, both traditional Japanese instruments. The resulting track is reminiscent of Japanese electro-pop pioneers Yellow Magic Orchstra.
"The traditional music of Japan is so vibrant and it has so much energy, and that's why we like the country so much," Godin says. "You have very traditional customs like the geisha, and then you have very modern technology going hand in hand with it, and we like that. We try to keep a connection with the past and the old tradition. When we make records we use the most modern computers, but we also like to use an old Fender Rhodes and an old Fender Bass."
THE BEDROOM
Air must be the most shagadelic band on the planet. Moon Safari, their debut album, has soundtracked a million romantic trysts and helped countless chaps lure ladies into bachelor pads.
"That is because we are so fascinated by women, and by the beauty of women," Godin explains. "And we have learned as French persons to take our time, you know, when you want to make love with someone you don't have to rush, you have to take your time. And so our music is good music to take your time to. Iit's good caress music."
THE CLOSET?
Nicolas and JB are more in touch with their feminine side than many bands; although they often use female guest vocalists, most of the time they just treat their own voices to make them sound girlie. So fans are often surprised when they learn that Godin and Dunckel are not gay. "You can be feminine and not being gay, and you can be very masculine and be very hard gay," Godin reasons.
HEAVEN
Photograph, according to Dunckel, toys with the idea of a supreme rock star who is so famous that even God wants his autograph (no, not Bono). "Maybe it's because we are obsessed by angels, we try to make the kind of music we think you could listen to in heaven," he reckons. "Or maybe angels have more sex."
Pocket Symphony goes on release today and is reviewed in CD reviews
