Darkel is a new album by Air’s Jean-Benoit Dunckel from Versailles, France. Dunckel, which incidentally means ‘dark’ in German, is not only a creative and experienced musician, but also an artist in every sense of the word.

Living up to the name his parents gave him; he recorded the album (over a two-year period) all at night – giving it a mysterious ambiguity both in reality and in concept. He maintains that after spending so long as a duo one of the hardest things to do going solo is remain inspired. “[When you’re solo] you’re alone, lost and stuck. There’s no one to pull negative ideas out of your mind.”

But have a listen; he managed to lay down a very eclectic album of vast electronic proportions. The album has a few poppy, upbeat songs on it that can easily be described as ‘bouncy’. And there are a lot of elements in the tunes that give the album an almost seventies sound. But again, this is probably the effect of having worked with Nicolas Godin (Air) for so long that the vibe of ‘retro-flavoured electronic music’ has followed through into his latest album.

Having communicated about this release with Jean-Benoit, he feels he has achieved what he was after and although I am not fully aware of his intentions, I feel he has completed and nicely rounded off amalgamation of music.

Amour Imagination Rêve.
Love Imagination Dreams.