A breath of fresh Air

French band Air make genre-defying music for which a simple, one- or two-word description would be utterly inadequate.

With a cool and exciting sound that seems to be a hybrid of ambient, lounge, disco, pop and electronica, this clever, always witty French duo dabbles beyond the boundaries of the here and now, fusing both retro and futuristic sounds in a neat, seamless package.

The new album, “10 000Hz Legend”, could be the score for a 70s sci-fi flick. Listen to the first track, “Electronic Performers” (“We are electronic performers/we are electronics”), full of bleeps and blips and electronically modified vocals, as well as “Radian”, “Lucky and Unhappy” and “Don’t Be Light”, and you might agree.

Formed in 1995, the band, which consists of Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin, are quick to avoid being labelled as nostalgic, even though they have a penchant for moogs and are influenced by, among others, the Beach Boys, Beatles and Burt Bacharach, with extra lashings of 80s Krautrockers, Kraftwerk. “We are about the future,” says Dunckel. “The '70s thing is only background; the important thing for us is the melody and the chords, and not the wrappings. The '70s sounds are only a process, a means to an end.”

Air became a household name among the hip and trendy back in 1998 when their superb and utterly sublime “Moon Safari” was released. Songs like “Sexy Boy” and “Kelly Watch the Stars!” earned them mass adoration and an album that was considered by many to be “album of the year”.

They’ve since also recorded the soundtrack for director Sophia Coppola’s film “Virgin Suicides”, and spent much of last year recording “10 000 Hz Legend”.

This album is quite a departure from “Moon Safari”; firstly, it’s much darker and way more interesting than the essentially optimistic pop-ishness of the former. “10 000 Hz Legend” is more like a carefully constructed work of art than a mere collection of clever, catchy tunes.

Listen to it a few times and it starts becoming quite hypnotic. Its 11 songs all share a certain soulful-sexy ambience, especially “How Does It Make You Feel”, the beautiful acoustic “The Vagabond” (to which Beck contributes both vocals and harmonica), “Sex Born Poison” and “Wonder Milky Bitch”.

This is pop electronica at its best, not taking itself too seriously yet still musically accomplished. It’s the sound of the 00s. Music to read Wallpaper magazine to, or background music as you plot your course to the stars.