Air, Love 2

By Emily Carney

Gainsbourg (both Papa Serge and daughter Charlotte), Brel, Françoise Hardy, Jane Birkin, Dalida: these are all various names in French Pop that have made a massive impact even in the Anglo-Saxon world of music. Unfortunately in the United States, most French music is consigned to the “World Music” bin in record stores, guaranteeing that most of the record-buying populace won’t hear of it.

One notable exception is the French duo Air, comprised of Nicholas Godin and Jean-Benôit Dunckel (whose side project called Darkel yielded the lovely 2006 song, “At the End of the Sky”). This band has truly earned its place in the canon of French Pop.

Their biggest “hit” album was 1998’s Moon Safari, but as a huge fan I prefer 2004’s Talkie Walkie. That album, when it was initially released, was a perfect example of the music I wanted to hear exactly at that particular time of my life. It featured lush orchestration, classical arrangements, and gorgeously ethereal vocals, which the band proclaimed was their attempt to sound like “angels without sex.” Its astro-bodied mood certainly captivated me, and I still have this album on heavy rotation five years later (I think it even deserves a re-release—maybe with extra tracks and demos? A girl can wish).

Air’s newest album, entitled Love 2, is sort of a mish-mash between the trashed-out, grunged-up electronic sound of 2001’s 10,000 Hz. Legend and Moon Safari. The first few songs vacillate between vocodered 1970s-sounding electro-rock (think “Popcorn” by Hot Butter) and straight-up soft 1970s AM rock (“So Light Is Her Footfall”). The issue I have with this album is its lack of coherence. Some of the songs hearken back to Burt Bacharach-flavored piano stylings while others attempt to sound more electronic and harder. The album’s title track sounds like a less inspired outtake from Moon Safari.

The only stand out track from the album is a ditty called “Missing the Light of Day,” which is what Daft Punk would sound like if they had collaborated with Jean-Michel Jarre and Michael Jackson. It has a very funky, electro sound to it, perhaps the only Air track I can think of which is both funky and eminently danceable (other than the Moog Cookbook’s remix of Moon Safari’s “Kelly Watch the Stars”).

Love 2 would have been more sonically interesting to me if they had based the entire album on this dirty pop composition; I would love to hear a synth-pop album from Air, even though synth-pop has been somewhat played out by less talented, eminent artists (think of the “electroclash” explosion of 2002 – 2003). Air’s version of electro sounds like New Order circa their “Confusion” period, except with a sexier, more Gallic twist.

But as a dedicated Air fan, I can always hope. I have a theory that every other Air album is a masterpiece after a somewhat disappointing one. At any rate, a disappointing Air album is still more interesting sonically than any of the year’s other musical releases. Air still retains their elegance, beauty, and sense of effortless French coolness that other artists just can’t touch.

Love 2 was released on October 5 and the band will be touring throughout Europe through February 2010. To hear tracks from the album, please check out the band’s Official Site or MySpace page.