空气乐队

Air is a French music duo from Versailles, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel. Their debut album, Moon Safari, including the track "Sexy Boy", was released in 1998. Its follow-up, The Virgin Suicides, was the score to Sofia Coppola's first film The Virgin Suicides. The band has since released the albums 10 000 Hz Legend, Talkie Walkie, Pocket Symphony, Love 2, Le voyage dans la lune and Music for Museum. The band is influenced by a variety of musical styles and artists.

History

Formation

Nicolas Godin studied architecture at the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles, and Jean-Benoît Dunckel studied mathematics, before forming a band in 1995. Before founding Air, Dunckel and Godin played together in the band Orange with others such as Alex Gopher, Xavier Jamaux and Jean de Reydellet. The former two subsequently contributed to remixes of tracks recorded by Air.

Initially Godin worked alone, recording a demo with members of Funkadelic as his backing band before releasing his first entirely solo effort, "Modular Mix", which featured production by Étienne de Crécy.

First Works

After making several remixes for other acts in the early 1990s, Air recorded their first EP, Premiers Symptômes, in 1997. The band would sign to Virgin Records and Astralwerks following the EP's success. The band's debut full-length album, Moon Safari, was released on 16 January, 1998. Air would find major international success with their song "Sexy Boy", which was released as the album's lead single. The album would produce two more chart topping singles "Kelly Watch The Stars" and "All I Need". As of February 2012, the album had sold 386,000 copies in the United States. Following the album's international success, the band would pursue a world tour, which was documented in their film Air: Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing, directed by Mike Mills.

In 2000, Air composed the original score for Sofia Coppola's debut film The Virgin Suicides. Shortly after the release, the band would go on to produce their second studio album, 10 000 Hz Legend, which released on 28 May, 2001. The album features American musician Beck as well as suGar Yoshinaga of Japanese band Buffalo Daughter. Produced by Tony Hoffer, the album went on to receive polarizing reviews from both critics and fans. The album spawned four singles, of which the majority of them failed to chart internationally. According to a 2012 Soundscan, 10,000 Hz Legend sold 600,000 copies worldwide. In 2002, the duo released remixes of the album under a release titled Everybody Hertz, which featured the bonus song "The Way You Look Tonight". In 2003, the duo worked with Italian writer Alessandro Baricco, on the album City Reading (Tre Storie Western). The album started as an idea for a collaboration with Baricco, who is known for his unusual characterizations and lyrical, poetic style. Baricco contacted Air in summer 2002 with the idea to marry narration of texts from his book City with live original musical accompaniment. The performance premiered live in November 2002 at Rome's Teatro Valle and was deemed such a success that both parties resolved to make a full studio recording. In 2003, the duo worked with film director Sofia Coppola on her film Lost In Translation, where the duo provided the song "Alone In Kyoto".

Later Years

On 26 January 2004, the duo released their third studio album Talkie Walkie. Produced by Nigel Godrich, the album spawned three singles: "Cherry Blossom Girl", "Surfing On a Rocket", which peaked at number 31 in the Billboard Top 40, and "Alpha Beta Gaga". Shortly after, the band went on to pursue solo projects and work with other artists. In September 2006, the duo worked with British actress Charlotte Gainsbourg on her second studio album 5:55. Dunckel released his solo album Darkel that same year. The duo was a feature on the DJ Mix series Late Night Tales, and released their set Late Night Tales: Air. The soundtrack to Coppola's October 2006 film Marie Antoinette features Air's "Il Secondo Giorno". Air would work with producer Nigel Godrich, as well as feature Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon on their 2007 album Pocket Symphony.

In 2009, the duo released their self-produced fifth studio album Love 2. In 2012, Air released their second film score, and sixth studio album, Le voyage dans la Lune. Air would further work on an ambient based soundtrack for the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille with their 2014 release Music for Museum. In 2016, the compilation album Twentyears was released, with the band pursuing a world tour which ended in 2018. Shortly after, the band went on to pursue solo projects with various releases. In 2020, Nicholas Godin released his second studio album Concrete and Glass. In 2023, the band pursued the Moon Safari tour, which was completed in 2025. In 2026 the band reissued a rare and limited clear vinyl 2LP version of Love 2, the first time in 15 years that the record will be available.