Air

                                                Le Voyage Dans La Lune

                                                           7.5/10

                                                       Recommend 

I always enjoy Air albums. I even found myself playing 2009’s Love 2 quite a bit. But I think the French band is most successful when they have a strong direction in their music, like a concept album. And for their seventh studio album, Air draws inspiration from the 1920s French classic film of the same name. 

Air returns to some older sounds they’ve used in the past but things become more brilliant here. Opener “Astronomic Club” starts with rupturing drums and psychedelic guitar work. Even though the sounds are heavy, the track feels light. The following song and the single, “Seven Stars” features vocals from Beach House’s Victoria Legrand — a perfect fit. The track reflects exactly what you’d think an Air song called “Seven Stars” featuring the Beach House front woman would sound like. It’s a delicate, cute track and even has a cool countdown in the middle. “Parade” is another nice track with again, more cool guitar work (sounding like taking a futuristic but retro influence from Serge Gainsbourg) and starry synths. “Sonic Armanda” sounds like a stunning Moon Safari b-side, which happens to fit perfectly here. The song, “Who Am I Now?” has vocals from Au Revior Simone and although it isn’t as strong as “Seven Stars” it still holds its own among the rest of the tracks. 

There really isn’t a problem with Le Voyage Dans La Lune. Sure, there are some dull moments or times where things don’t really work (like the interludes and the closing track “Lava”) but overall everything is totally satisfying. If you like Air, if you like spacey synths, cool freakout moments, dream pop and/or love the silent film then you’ll most likely be digging this record as much as I have.  

Listen to “Seven Stars” featuring Beach House’s Victoria Legrand below: