AIR

Love 2

2009-10-28

The French duo (Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin) are back! Never known for their profound lyricism, Air has always been about creating sounds that keep their listening audience coming back time and time again. Their self-produced latest, Love 2, is no different. A Combination of New Age, Rock, Pop, Electronica and even Jazz makes for an interesting, if not entirely pleasurable twelve song set of music. The Armageddon inspired opener "Do the Joy" is a song that exhorts us to do just that, "do the joy" amidst impending destruction. Another fun track is "Be a Bee," a song reminiscent of the sound captured in the 70's by the British rockers The Stranglers. The jazz influenced "Tropical Disease" is the longest song on the album with only a few choice words - "woman, woman, make me feel warm inside." The lyrics alone quite obviously don't make the song but the lush and building instrumental pieces within the track work quite well. One of three pure instrumentals on the album, "Night Hunter" is well worth a try as the hand-claps are magnified beautifully by a host of other blips, bleeps and other sounds. A final song worth mentioning is the Dream Pop of "Sing Sang Sung." Described by one reviewer as "preposterously catchy," the sound is perhaps just that - catchy with perhaps some of the strongest lyricism to back it up. The overall bright spot about this album is that it is surprisingly eclectic with a different feel found on virtually every song. An additional selling point is that each song somehow begs another listen. Without a doubt, Air's latest offering seems to capture what has made them a worldwide success - a sound that many have come to love. Thanks to Love 2, the love continues. ~Reviewed by Jeff Bouma

Quick Links:

• Air's official site
• Air's Myspace