Air — “Cosmic Trip”

Perhaps the fusion of cinematic and musical art forms is the way of the future. In today’s society, artists are looking more and more to the past as a nostalgic means of collaboration and contemporary rejuvenation.

Air, composed of French duo Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, has been creating ambient melodies for quite some time.

They’re travelers of space and instigators of mind-opening adventures to other worlds. Air’s first album in three years, Le Voyage Dans la Lune isinspired by the 1902 silent sci-fi film by visionary French filmmaker and magician Georges Méliès.

Méliès, one of the first avant-garde filmmakers, tried to set atmospheres, passions, and imaginations into motion through moving images on the big screen. For the first time in history, people could congregate in a dreamlike environment with other individuals similar to themselves, and in a sense, see time itself recaptured. It was said that his films were the stuff of dreams.

Taking the title of Air’s new album to heart, Le Voyage Dans La Lune comes across as a cosmic journey to the moon meant to act as a modern soundtrack to Méliès’ imaginative and timeless film.

The special-edition package of the album even comes with a DVD of Méliès’ film. One of the highlights of the record, “Cosmic Trip” is full of trancelike mystery, prevailing beats, and synthetic swirls of sound.

However, the whole record should be listened to in its entirety, from start to finish, as a surreal narrative of sorts.