As one half of the Versailles duo Air Nicolas Godin will probably feel that a solo career is more than a legitimate pursuit: after all it’s more than twenty years since the neo-classic Moon Safari re-drew the boundaries between pop, electronica and disco, while eight years have passed since their last release.
Godin hasn’t been idle in that period, releasing the Bach-influenced Contrepoint in 2015. It’s follow up however is a different method entirely. Inevitably, there are singing guest stars, the most recognisable being the typecast melancholy of Alexis Taylor on Catch Yourself Falling, whilst Cola Boyy also does his bit with style on The Foundation.
Influenced at least tangentially by his education as an architect, Concrete and Glass is very much about straight lines, orthodoxy and first impressions: clearly unphased by the inevitable comparisons to the good old days, he even deploys the trusty vocoder on The Border and Turn Right, Turn Left.
For the many enduring a long wait for the next chapter in his other, more renowned musical journey, this seems as good as it’s going to get for now.
You can read the full review here.