AIR ANNOUNCE 25TH ANNIVERSARY RELEASE FOR MOON SAFARI
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Air’s debut album Moon Safari, a Deluxe audio-video package will be released in March. This follows the news that the French duo will play their widely celebrated album in its entirety for the first time across Europe this February & March. All dates on the original tour sold out in record time and given the exceptional demand for tickets, Air have now added further dates to their touring schedule for late spring and into the summer including a night at The Royal Albert Hall in London and key appearances across Europe, including a headline show at legendary electronic music festival Sonar in Barcelona.
The album reissue (a Deluxe 2CD/Blu Ray Audio-Video) will include a Spatial Dolby Atmos audio version of the original album along with super rare or previously unreleased tracks as well as Mike Mill’s 1998 documentary film Eating, Sleeping, Waiting & Playing filmed during the band’s first ever worldwide tour and more
Celebrating its 25th anniversary last year, the release of Moon Safari catapulted Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel to the uppermost rung of electronic music’s ladder and left an indelible imprint on pop culture at the end of the 20th Century.
In issue 9 of Blitzed (order here), we spoke to Jean-Benoît Dunckel for an exclusive interview in which he spoke about the appeal of Moon Safari, highlighting its “emotional and melancholic” aspects.
Today, the record’s legacy is canonical, but at the time of release, its multi-million success was far from assured. Says Dunckel: “We were a duo doing some electronic thing, dreaming of selling 10,000 copies and being recognised by other musicians as cool. Then suddenly, we met the world.” In no time at all, AIR’s downtempo influence was easy to detect all around.
Through Moon Safari, Air’s music infiltrated and transfixed some of the great visionaries of the late 20th century – David Bowie, Madonna, Beck – as well as influencing preeminent aesthetes of the incoming age – including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kevin Parker and Sofia Coppola, whose creative relationship with Air became as synergetic as that of Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch.
Moon Safari birthed hit singles in ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’, ‘All I Need’ and ‘Sexy Boy’, sold millions of copies around the world, and pushed Air into headline status at major festivals. 25 years on, it’s not hard to reason why Moon Safari has stood the test of time.
Moon Safari – 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is out 8th March via Parlophone/ Warner Music
https://RhinoUK.lnk.to/MoonSafari
New Tour Dates
May 30 London Royal Albert Hall – UK on sale Feb 2nd at 10am local
June 14 Sonar Festival, Barcelona – Spain on sale
June 24 Days Off Festival, Philharmonie De Paris – France on sale March 2024
July 21 Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin – Germany on sale
July 23 Medastadt Open Air, Vienna – Austria * on sale
Ticket info via www.airfrenchband.com
Photo by Willy Huvey