On March 26th, 2012, Swedish Balearic pop duo Air France called it quits. In a deeply moving open letter, the pair wrote, “We have tried so hard, and we truly gave it everything we had. And now we have decided to stop trying, even though it breaks our hearts.” Even with the abrupt ending, the pair left their future together ambiguously open, adding, “Who knows, maybe we’ll see you again in another shape.”
Now, exactly two years to the day, Air France makes its triumphant comeback, albeit returning in “another shape” just as they’d hinted at. To commemorate Air France and the anniversary of their breakup, The Line Of Best Fit enlisted New Zealand dream-pop outfit Yumi Zouma to re-record Air France’s final single, August 2011’s “It Feels Good To Be Around You”. In turn, Best Fit, Yumi Zouma, and their label Cascine then managed to persuade Air France’s Joel Karlsson and Henrik Markstedt to contribute vocals to the rework.
The resulting track is one that’s both steeped in deep nostalgia while still sounding utterly fresh and inventive. Yumi Zouma stick to a supporting role, laying down a hazy, slightly ethereal groove of twittering synths and saccharine guitars, like the dream-pop version of some cool jazz band playing a dimly-lit bar. That leaves the focus on Karlsson and Markstedt, who dutifully read through bits of their open letter, with phrases like “Dear Air France…. Sometimes I think the way we met, happened too fast” gaining a new sheen of emotionality and depth over the slow groove. Even if this is a one-time reunion, it certainly helps shift the entire Air France breakup narrative into a much warmer context.
Listen in below (via The Line Of Best Fit):
