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All About Air, the French Electronic Band Featured in Closing Ceremony
The Paris 2024 Olympic Closing Ceremony featured some epic performances.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Closing Ceremony took place Sunday, August 11 and featured an impressive lineup of performers.
The closing ceremonies often highlight a mix of local and international talent, celebrating the host country's culture and achievements while also paying tribute to the global spirit of the Olympics. Past ceremonies have featured iconic artists such as the Spice Girls, who reunited at the 2012 London Olympics, and Kylie Minogue, whose a memorable performance at the 2000 Sydney Games.
This year, the band Air was among the performers, which also included the band Phoenix, singer Angèle, Kaminsky, Vannda, and Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig. The duo gained international recognition with their debut album, "Moon Safari," released in 1998, featuring hits like "Sexy Boy" and "All I Need." Air brought their signature electric sound to the stage for this year’s Olympic Closing Ceremony, offering a captivating performance to enhance the celebratory atmosphere.
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Who is Air?
Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, the duo behind the French electronic band Air, studied at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles before starting their successful music careers. Godin pursued architecture, a field that fascinates him, while Dunckel focused on mathematics and physics, even teaching at a middle school before fully committing to Air.
Formed in the late 1990s, the band gained international acclaim with its debut album, “Moon Safari,” in 1998, which featured iconic tracks like "Sexy Boy" and "All I Need." Their music integrates elements of pop, ambient, and classical influences. Their diverse educational backgrounds have contributed to the unique sound and creative approach that Air is known for.
How was the band Air formed?
Before forming Air, both musicians were part of the band Orange alongside mastering engineer Alex Gopher. Gopher is a celebrated musician and producer who later worked with prominent French artists such as Angèle, Clara Luciani, Mr. Oizo, and Gesaffelstein. After Orange disbanded, Godin focused on solo projects, writing "Modulor Mix" for a friend's mixtape.
The song received praise, prompting Godin to invite Dunckel to collaborate further. Their partnership led to producing songs for the French independent label Source, which eventually asked them to create an entire album. Working in Studio de Saint-Nom near Paris, they formed Air and made their breakthrough album, “Moon Safari,” which gained international acclaim.
“I thought that we would never make a musical career because my own taste was so different from everything on the radio in the eighties and nineties,” Godin told Loud and Quiet in an interview. “I really hated everything coming from the French music scene, it was pretty depressing. The sound of the sound engineers, the way the drums were played, the sound of the guitar players. It was just the worst thing!”
Despite these early frustrations and a challenging musical landscape, Air's innovative sound soon found a receptive audience. Following the success of their debut album “Moon Safari,” French duo Air was invited by director Sofia Coppola to score her film The Virgin Suicides. Coppola listened to “Moon Safari” extensively while writing the screenplay for her adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel and was drawn to Air's dreamlike sound. The resulting score, which includes the notable track "Playground Love," is celebrated as one of the most evocative soundtracks ever.
