Astralwerks
2006
Darkel
About This Album
While Jean-Benoît Dunckel and his Air partner, Nicolas Godin, worked on Charlotte Gainsbourg's album 5:55 by day, at night he recorded his first solo album under the name Darkel (inspired by when he recorded it and the fact that his last name means "dark" in German). Darkel doesn't differ greatly from his work with Air -- it's got the same mix of epic synth passages and sexy, starry-eyed pop, and his wispy, almost androgynous voice would be unmistakable in almost any setting. Songs such as "Be My Friend," "Pearl," and especially "Bathroom Spirit" could have easily been Air B-sides; they've got all the mellow, sensual atmosphere of Dunckel's main project, but not quite as much impact as Air's best work. Fortunately, he spends more time breaking away from that sound than he does emulating it, and the quirkier, more whimsical, and personal tracks make up the heart of Darkel. The sharp-edged, new-wavey "Beautiful Woman" and playful "TV Destroy" are some of the most rock-oriented sounds to come from Dunckel, even if they're more witty than hard-hitting. At the opposite spectrum is the languid "Some Men," a beautiful, piano-based love song that rivals the quality of many Air tracks, but works even better in this more intimate context.
Track List (try tracks 1,7,9 and 10)

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