Air have announced a 20th anniversary edition of their second album, ’10 000Hz Legend’.
The French duo – comprised of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel – released the original record back in 2001. Following on from their 1998 debut ‘Moon Safari’, it was lauded by NME for its “sheer level of invention”.
Now, Air have confirmed that they will celebrate the two-decade milestone by releasing a special version of the album on November 5. You can pre-order it now via the tweet below (it is currently only available on French Amazon).
The forthcoming edition of ’10 000Hz Legend’ will boast live and demo rarities, a remastered take on the original album as well as the bonus track ‘The Way You Look Tonight’, which previously appeared on the Japanese version of the record.
10 000 Hz Legend 20th Anniversary edition is coming up Nov 5th! w/ blu-ray dolby Atmos spacialized audio & rarities (live & demos)
Pre-order now [https://t.co/j0LzBpJRqr]desert footage © Àgata Lanz pic.twitter.com/5A9js6f0F0
— AIR (@airofficial) September 22, 2021
A bonus CD features four unreleased demos, live tracks recorded during a KCRW radio session and a performance at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. The 20-year collection also includes a Blu-ray disc version.
Air’s Nicolas Godin spoke about ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ during an interview with NME in 2019, explaining how the duo were unsure whether to include it on ’10 000Hz Legend’.
“We didn’t know what to think about that track, but the night we were recording, Michael Stipe from R.E.M. was in our studio in Paris and said: ‘Wow! I love that track – you should finish it and release it’,” he recalled.
“And I did vocals and played this stupid fiddle and I thought the song was really bad, but he told us it was good – so we did the song because of him.”
Air last studio effort, ‘Le Voyage Dans La Lune’, came out in 2012.
Asked by NME whether there would be another record, Godin said that he was concerned about ruining the band’s “magic” by releasing a “substandard album”.
“If we’re able to find that magic, we’ll go into the studio,” he continued. “But if not, we’ll move aside and let other people make those magic records.”