Kevin Bronson on November 27th, 2019

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French music alchemist Nicolas Godin, one-half the celebrated duo Air, has announced that his second solo album, “Concrete and Glass,” will be out Jan. 24.

Among his guests on the album are Kadjha Bonet, Kirin J Callinan, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and, on the new single “The Foundation,” Oxnard singer-songwriter Cola Boyy, aka Matthew Urango. (Record Makers, the French label founded by Air, released Cola Boyy’s debut EP “Black Boogie Neon” in 2018.)

Godin’s album draws its inspiration from architecture — he studied at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles — and both “The Foundation” and the first single “The Border” have the clean, modernist comportment of his heroes’ work (and Air’s, for that matter). “The Foundation,” with its playfully bent synths and intoxicating groove, exudes a beguiling warmth.

“Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House #21 [aka the Bailey House, located in the Hollywood Hills] was the starting point for this song,” Godin says of the song. “Well, at least that’s how I presented the music to its future singer, Cola Boyy. I told him about the project’s architectural origins, explaining that he must let his own personal inspiration run free for the lyrics. I always thought that a concept was always the perfect way to start a record, but then you should soon let the music take over. A good record is one in which the music seizes control pretty fast. I’ve applied this rule to each album I’ve been lucky enough to record, with only one mantra: ‘It’s the music that decides.’ This song is the perfect example of this.”

Greg Barnes directs the video for the song, saying: “The synth–led, ethereal momentum of the track felt so out-of-this-world and intrepid all at once — the concept of mankind exploring space fell into place almost immediately, and the excitement of creating a sci-fi visual for the song stayed with me throughout the whole process.”

||| Watch: The video for “Foundation”

||| Also: Watch the video for “The Border”