I first heard Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygene album as a child, in the early 1980s. I was perhaps four or
five years old, and I had never heard music like it before.
It was the record that my father was playing. I remember
asking my dad what the music was, and his reply was: “Oxygene”. Like many, I would
mis-pronounce it as “Oxy-gene” for a long time – it took many years until I
realised that the title was in fact, simply the French spelling of oxygen. The realisation
that this music came from another country, made it all seem even more
enchanting and exotic.
But back then, I remember being utterly entranced by the
sound of the album – I couldn’t hear any recognisable instruments… to me it
sounded organic, more like some kind of naturally grown sound that was emitting
from the stereo.
However, this wasn’t just music – it was something much more
sensory. My young artistic imagination was already hard at work – Oxygene part 4 transported me into the
sky among the clouds; Oxygene part 3
sent me to a vast snowy expanse with a glaring winter sun, and most
significantly of all, Oxygene part 2
propelled me out into space.
At home, I was surrounded with books of space imagery and
science fiction art, and from a young age, I was addicted to Doctor Who. I obviously made a
connection between the electronic sound of Oxygene
and the iconic Doctor Who theme
music. Watching Peter Davison running around battling aliens, saving the Earth
and traveling to other worlds felt like the right match for this kind of music.
However there was one particular piece of artwork, which
hung on the wall at home, that for me, was the perfect fit with Oxygene, and that was a large framed
print of British space artist David A. Hardy’s Stellar Radiance. This painting was my window into another world,
with its rocky alien terrain and huge burning sun. The warmth and atmosphere
that I felt radiating out of the painting perfectly matched the sound of Oxygene and in my young mind, the two
became inseparable.
Looking back, it is no surprise that I became obsessed with
science fiction, space and electronic music – and it is this which led to me
creating both my own science fiction
artwork and composing my own instrumental
electronic
music.
In the last ten years, I even became close friends with David
A. Hardy, who is still creating astounding and inspiring artwork – and in our
small world, both Hardy and Jarre knew Arthur C. Clarke – my favourite SF
author. So I found it very rewarding that both science fiction and art led me
back to
Oxygene.
It was actually a long time until I rediscovered Oxygene. In the mid-1990s, as a student
with no money, I picked up a second hand copy of the album on vinyl. By that
point my musical tastes had defined themselves and I knew it was time to
reconnect with the album. I seem to recall that this was the first time I had
heard parts 5 and 6 in full, and also the first time I had seen Michel
Granger’s haunting cover artwork. It was then that I realised it was not an
album about space at all, but about the environment and the Earth.
Everything about the album still fascinated me, right down
to the tracks not having individual names, but simply part numbers. This
transcended music – it was more like an ever-evolving abstract painting that
you could hear. And all those years later, it still instantly took me to
another place and state of mind.
My rediscovery of Oxygene
was perfectly timed, as the following year, Jarre released the sequel, Oxygene 7–13, which proved to be the
catalyst for my discovery of and obsession with all of his music. I remember
seeing the promotional video for the Oxygene
10 single on TV and it sounded fantastic – modern, yet still distinctly
part of the same soundscape.
Oxygene 7–13 was
the first thing I bought with my very first paycheque after starting my first
job at a local newspaper, in September 1997. I still remember getting home and
putting the CD on for the first time and being blown away. That album became the soundtrack to that point in my life,
and very soon I found myself discovering the rest of Jarre’s music. Oxygene 7–13 was not any kind of remake
or reimagining, but a continuation of the first album, but also it felt like
returning to a special place that you haven’t been to in a long time, and
seeing what has changed.
Several years later, I would find myself in the suburbs of
Paris, regularly visiting the woman who would become my wife. On many occasions
in France, I found myself tracing Jarre’s footsteps, visiting the neighbouring
towns of Croissy-sur-Seine and Bougival as well as the Eiffel Tower and the
futuristic-looking complex of La Défense – two locations where Jarre had held
record-breaking concerts. My time in Paris only cemented my admiration of
Jarre’s music, and also brought me closer to it.
I started creating my own music in 2006 – and the influence
of Oxygene is never far behind. As an
artist, I find making music no different to painting; one uses sounds, the
other uses colours. So it didn’t matter than I had never had a music lesson in
my life – this was more about sculpting a soundscape that could transport the
listener to another place or be completely open to interpretation.
One special event for me was the chance to see Jean-Michel
Jarre in concert, when he performed the entire Oxygene album live for it’s 30th anniversary in 2008.
Jarre’s show at the Royal Albert Hall was one of the most memorable and
personally moving shows I have experienced – to hear the album performed in full alongside tracks from Oxygene 7–13 was very special indeed.
Fast forward to 2016, and the welcome surprise of Oxygene 3 – the final part of the
trilogy. After a year of so many sad and depressing things from the loss of cultural
icons to harrowing terrorist attacks, it is the small pleasures in life that we
appreciate more. Music heals, it brings people together, it lifts moods and it makes
you think. And in the case of Jarre’s music, it is a constant source of
inspiration.
I was left incredibly moved by the first listen of the new
album, but after just a couple of days, it’s much too soon for me to delve
deeper into it – there is so much to explore. But even after only a few listens,
there is no denying this new masterwork, and an album more than worthy of
sitting alongside its predecessors.
All three Oxygene
albums have a timeless quality to them, and a highly engrossing, organic sound.
When you consider every sound on these albums came from cold, hard machines,
one can only applaud Jarre’s intricate genius of producing such emotive music. Oxygene has always been a sensory
experience, transporting you through a whole spectrum of moods and emotions, through
hot and cold, dark and light.
This is the kind of music that makes you feel grateful to be
alive and to be able to enjoy our planet with its stunning skies and wonderful
landscapes. In many ways, Oxygene
somehow manages to bring you closer to that sense of appreciation, from the
wonders of nature to the simple ability to take in a breath of fresh air. And
yet with it, we are also taken right back to the original album’s environmental
warning, reinforced by the slow, burning scream that we hear on Oxygene part 20 – at the very end of the
series.
So what does Oxygene
mean to me? All of the above, and much more. It feels very personal; it is
music I have grown up with, and that has shaped my own creative decisions – it
is music I cannot be without. Sometimes Oxygene
will take me right back to childhood; other times it feels forward thinking
and music to intensely enjoy at 38, just as much as I did when I first heard
it. Granted, this style of music takes a certain taste or frame of mind to
fully appreciate. And nor are these throwaway “pop” albums; you cannot be
content with just the one track in your collection (such as how Oxygene part 4 turns up on endless
“chillout” compilation albums). These are not albums to be played passively.
No, this music has to be listened to with dedication and experienced as a whole
– an epic, flowing soundscape to explore and become utterly absorbed in.
To each and every fan, the album (and indeed the whole Oxygene series) means something
different – yet we all share the same admiration for it. I’m grateful to
have been able to enjoy it and share in its journey.
Merci, Jean-Michel.
#OxygeneSeries
