Just over two months since the release of his acclaimed new album, ‘Concrete and Glass,’ Nicolas Godin has shared a hypnotic video for the album’s title’s track, directed by Dodi El Sherbini.
Of the track Godin says: “The track was inspired by John Lautner, one of my favourite architects in the whole world who is renowned for his sensuous modernism. A great example of this is the Sheats-Goldstein residence. It’s the second house I worked on as part of Xavier Veilhan’s Architectones project. When I first visited the house in the hills of Los Angeles, I couldn’t find the road leading up to it. Driving round and round in circles, the synthesizer’s heady melody acts as an introduction to the track. I couldn’t part with this melody and it brought the following lyrics to life: “I am looking for a house made of concrete and glass”.
Watch the video via YouTube below.
In its soft ambient pulse and melting minimalism, lead track The Border is a perfect entry-point to Godin’s hymns to buildings, arranged and co-produced with Pierre Rousseau. Elsewhere, earlier single The Foundation, which features guest vocals from Cola Boyy sees the Oxnard singer and activist brings soul to the righteously engaged track whilst the squelchy synths and buoyant grooves burn slow, allowing the stealthy arrangements and message room to resonate. Godin has also since shared a beguiling video to Catch Yourself Falling which features Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip on lead vocals.
While Godin’s vocoder vocals also hark back to Air’s early work, the album accommodates a diverse spread of guest vocalists. Psychedelic soul singer Kadhja Bonet sings with measured serenity over tremulous synths on We Forgot Love, while Russian experi-pop artist Kate NV brings a gracefully aching romanticism to the blissful swoon-pop of Back to Your Heart. Additionally, Australian conceptual provocateur Kirin J Callinan contributes a vocal of restrained drama to Time On My Hands, a midnight-drift soft-pop ballad with a silky allure.
Between its title-track and the sultry, smoky jazz stylings of closer Cité Radieuse, ‘Concrete and Glass’ is an album that truly travels, in tune with its global pitch. For Godin, it marks another milestone in a musical journey that began when Air’s 1998 debut album, ‘Moon Safari,’ became the sublimely weightless soundtrack of its time. For ‘Concrete and Glass,’ Godin builds on his storied past with tremendous finesse, charm and fluency, opening fresh windows of perspective at every lovingly executed turn.
‘Concrete and Glass’ track list
1. Concrete and Glass
2. Back To Your Heart ft. Kate NV
3. We Forgot Love ft. Kadjha Bonet
4. What Makes Me Think About You
5. Time On My Hands ft. Kirin J Callinan
6. The Foundation ft. Cola Boyy
7. Catch Yourself Falling ft. Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip)
8. The Border
9. Turn Right Turn Left
10. Cité Radieuse
‘Concrete and Glass’ is out now via Because Music.
For more information about Nicolas Godin, visit nicolasgodin.com.
