Le Voyage Dans La Lune

When we met Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel in 1998 they were exploring the lunar landscape with Moon Safari. The Eagle has landed again.

Back then, Air had found a perfect blend of easy-listening and ambient disco, capturing a zeitgeist few had expected. Moon Safari's spacey quality was incidental; here it has purpose. Le Voyage Dans La Lune is a set of work inspired by Georges Méliès' classic 1902 silent film – you've all seen the cover image with the tin can in the moon's eye – and follows on from the actual soundtrack they made for the movie reprint last year.

Familiar Air tropes are here – whispers of prog adventure on Parade and Lava (where the ancient Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy theme springs to mind); electronic washes conjuring grand vistas on Cosmic Trip – but a reliance on live instrumentation gives the album a more organic feel.

Attempts to evoke space travel have side effects, though. There's a tendency to drift aimlessly, making big nothings out of Moon Fever and Decollage. It's left to Seven Stars, with its fat, sonorous piano and breathy vocal, and the sinister Who Am I Now to bring focus to the indulgence, giving a boost to a record that never quite takes off.

Album Review by Matthew Horton