Moon Safari

Mixmag's Review

On a stoned Saturday night in, 'Moon Safari' gushes from the speakers, and everything around you slowly changes. Grimy North London becomes sunkissed Saint Tropez, the sofabed becomes a soft-top Aston Martin and your daft flatmate becomes the foxy bit of posh in the passenger seat. She turns to you and softly coos, "Fucking hell man, we're out of king skins." Ho hum. Back to reality, eh?

Still it's fun while it lasts: weird musical fantasies moulded into a delicious chillout. 'Kelly Watch The Stars' sounds like Kraftwerk playing Northern Soul, 'Ce Matin La' snitches its drum loop from The Beach Boys' 'Do It Again' and casts it adrift on a wave of melancholy strings. 'All I Need' is the same track that cropped up on the 'Super Discount' album, stripped of its samples, transformed into a sultry ballad. Aching vocal tracks melt into lush instrumentals and back again. Everything sounds like it's there for a reason, perfectly thought out and executed. It's the sort of album that creates a soundworld in your living room, a world where everything's more shiny, chic and sophisticated than reality.

It's slunky rather than funky - I'd like to see you dance to 'Le Voyage De Penelope' without getting arrested - but it's inventive, original and it's going to blow your mind. A stoned Sunday night in North London? I'd rather live in Air's soundworld. 'Moon Safari' is better than real life.

Superbly inventive album of Parisian soundtrack-as-song stuff to colour up your world.(5/5)