By virtue of a global success which was confirmed after Moon Safari with, in particular, the superb soundtrack of the film The Virgin SuicidesAir’s return to the stage announced at the start of the year is an event in itself. But for Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, it is first and foremost about celebrating Moon Safari by playing it in full on stage, something the duo had never allowed themselves to do.
“When the album came out, I immediately wanted to stop playing it,” admits Nicolas Godin, contacted a few hours before the group’s performance in Chicago on October 8. “We immediately wanted to break with what we had just done. The Virgin Suicides is therefore very different and 10,000 Hz Legend also, as if each new album had to cancel the previous one. With age, we now accept the fact of having made good records. I’m finally at peace with the production of our previous albums. »
Air has indeed succeeded in distinguishing itself by skillfully amalgamating electro sounds with the ambiance of smooth jazz and the melodies of French pop. A result which today appears almost suspended in time and which undoubtedly explains the presence of younger generations in the rooms visited by the French duo.
When we recorded Moon Safariwe had an obsession every day to do something timeless. Looking back, we see that it worked.
Nicolas Godin
Play Moon Safari The entire album, however, involved some technical acrobatics, as it was necessary to find a way to bring a particularly rich-sounding record on stage. Air may be a proud representative of the French Touch with Daft Punk, but the duo has a very organic approach to electro and invariably refuses to use pre-recorded tapes.
“The problem is that there are no guests with us on stage, so we had to adapt the two songs sung on the record by Beth Hirsch. They are therefore a little further from the original. But the rest is quite faithful to the record,” Nicolas Godin tells us.
He continues: “As there are three of us on stage with our drummer, there are a lot of keyboards behind the scenes that we control with MIDI controllers. Compared to our other concerts, we therefore manipulate everything on stage; we make the brass with a Moog and the violins with a Mellotron, it adds a bit to the retrofuturistic side. »
PHOTO MATHIEU RAINAUD, PROVIDED BY WARNER MUSIC
Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin, from the French duo Air
Moon Safari is in fact intended to be a sort of time capsule, composed at the time around the youthful fantasies of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, both born in 1969. “We grew up thinking that in the year 2000 we would see laser guns, flying cars and that we would take trips to other planets, the multi-instrumentalist enjoys recalling. The retro side is therefore a child of the 1970s’ vision of the future. Moon Safariit was the soundtrack of this world in which I grew up. »
The group thus chose to represent this fantasized universe on stage, the trio of musicians literally playing in a box open to the public. “It took a lot of work to prepare the songs, but also a lot of visual work,” Nicolas Godin tells us. We want people to feel like they’re in a time capsule. We also play in a white box which is a sort of refined mix of studio and spaceship. We were inspired to do this by Stanley Kubrick and his film 2001: A Space Odyssey. This production is a first for us, it makes us want to do more elaborate things for the future. »
Could the future of Air hold any surprises for us? “For the moment, we try every evening to play as best as possible — there are so many buttons on our synths that it’s not easy,” Nicolas Godin tells us with a laugh. I love going to see classical music concerts, the level of the musicians is crazy; so we also try to be the best, out of respect for the public. We’re going to finish this tour, then we’ll see. So far, we’re happy to be together, we get along well. »
Air, at Place Bell, Sunday, 8 p.m.
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