Celebrating its 25th anniversary last year, the release of Moon Safari catapulted Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel to the uppermost rung of electronic music’s ladder and left an indelible imprint on pop culture at the end of the 20th Century.
Despite being young 20-somethings at the time and having only released one EP to date, Godin and Dunckel’s stars aligned and together they were blessed with the creative skill to make the perfect electronic pop songs. These two students of astrophysics and architecture set about creating their own universe with the confidence and pedigree of seasoned pros.
Today, the record’s legacy is canonical, but at the time of release, its multi-million success was far from assured. Says Dunckel: “We were a duo doing some electronic thing, dreaming of selling 10,000 copies and being recognised by other musicians as cool. Then suddenly, we met the world.” In no time at all, AIR’s downtempo influence was easy to detect all around.
Through Moon Safari, Air’s music infiltrated and transfixed some of the great visionaries of the late 20th century – David Bowie, Madonna, Beck – as well as influencing preeminent aesthetes of the incoming age – including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kevin Parker and Sofia Coppola, whose creative relationship with Air became as synergetic as that of Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch (another fan).
Moon Safari birthed hit singles in ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’, ‘All I Need’ and ‘Sexy Boy’, sold millions of copies around the world, and pushed Air into headline status at major festivals. 25 years on, it’s not hard to reason why Moon Safari has stood the test of time. It’s a mood you want to live inside of forever. It’s a revelation. It’s conversation pit music for a better future.
Dunckel sums up his own album as “a deep, universal spell, full of love and mystery.”
“To me,” Godin concludes, “Moon Safari is perfect.” And who can argue…
MCD Presale – Wednesday @ 9am
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