Nicolas Godin – Contrepoint

Half of Air finds room to breathe on this Bach inspired solo outing…

Having plied an adoring public with soothing jazz-tinged electronica on 1998’s ‘Moon Safari’, Air resolutely resisted the temptation to deliver more of the same and veered off course with delightful abandon. They delivered the far more varied and dowmbeat soundtrack to ‘The Virgin Suicides’, before unleashing the synth-prog-electro-pop of ‘10000Hz Legend’.

All are great records, but the band’s true high point came with 2004’s warmly atmospheric, majestically layered ‘Talkie Walkie’ which doesn’t burst out of the speakers, nevertheless managing to fill the whole room, sound drifting every which way. Its great success was the melding of crisply recorded percussion, carefully caressed synths and sparsely deployed hushed vocals. There are very few records like it. ‘Contrepoint’, however, is arguably one.

Inspired by the counterpoint harmonies of no less than Johann Sebastian Bach, Nicolas Godin’s first offering away from that rightly revered duo is a quite beautiful recording. In an age of tiny, tinny white earbuds and music designed to sound good battling the noise of traffic through a car stereo, the soundstage is truly something to behold. It is, perhaps, entirely fitting that an album inspired by one of the greatest classical musicians of all time should be so perfectly rendered.

Fans of Godin’s previous work will spot numerous sounds and textures that evoke fond memories, but this is an impressive set in its own right. ‘Club Nine’ goes all Dave Brubeck at its outset – ‘Take Nine’, if you will – brushed drums and nagging piano setting the scene for some rolling, swinging jazz. The closest thing here to the archetypal Air sound is ‘Widerstehe Dor Der Sunde’, with a hushed, starry-eyed female vocal and a choral breakdown, but even that has an enjoyably robotic coda attached.

‘Clara’ is a particular delight, building out of mournful strings into a lulling bossa nova bedecked with sun-kissed synths, but there’s another piece here that is sure to steal the limelight. The so-bad-it’s-almost-good title ‘Bach Off’ is redeemed by the seven-minute plus curio to which it is attached. Shifting and mutating through numerous moods, paces and genres, it is like the soundtrack to five different films being played simultaneously. There’s a piece on Air’s aforementioned accompaniment to ‘The Virgin Suicides’ entitled ‘Dead Bodies’ which has always felt like the perfect match for a manic noirish late-night car chase scene and elements of ‘Bach Off’ occupy similar territory. It’s a staggering achievement and new details continue to emerge, even after dozens of listens.

With Air currently parked, Godin needed a new challenge and, rather than turning his back on music as he initially planned to, he instead threw himself into highly technical piano lessons so as to conquer the work of Bach. The chance to spin new songs out of elements of the composer’s scores proved irresistible, but he is keen to point out that this is a more general tribute to the many classical writers who have inspired him in his career. Out of something very, very old has come something deliciously new.

8/10

Words: Gareth James

– – –

– – –

Buy Clash Magazine

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.