Jean-Michel Jarre has announced the release of Oxygene 3.
The album is due on December 2.
“I don’t necessarily like anniversaries that much,” says Jarre. “But when I was recording Electronica, two years ago, I did a piece of music (today Oxygene 19) that made me think about what Oxygene could be if I was composing it today. Then I took the 40th anniversary of the first album as a deadline to push myself to see if I could compose this new chapter in six weeks, just like I did for the first one: probably to avoid thinking too much about, whether it was a good idea or not, and also to record everything in one go… The idea was not to copy the first album, but rather keeping the dogma of embarking listeners on a journey from beginning to end with different chapters, all linked to each other.
“What made the first Oxygene so different at the time, is probably the minimalist aspect, and the fact that there are almost no drums, and I wanted to keep this approach, creating the groove mainly with the sequences and the structure of the melodies only. When I did the first Oxygene in the vinyl days, I had a structure in mind divided in 2 parts fitting the A&B sides of an album. This time I enjoyed doing the same: one side being darker, the other being brighter. So when I think of it today, Oxygene 3 has actually two sides…
“I did the first Oxygene on an 8 tracks tape recorder with very few instruments, with no other choice than being minimalist. I tried to keep this minimalist approach for Oxygene 3. Some moments are built around one or two elements like in the first volume.”
Oxygene 3 will be available on CD, Vinyl and in the Ultimate Oxygene-Trilogy Box-Set, combining all three Oxygene-albums on CD and Vinyl, with an attached coffee-table-book featuring rare photos and notes on the story of Oxygene.