If Brutalism is somewaht of an indication of Jeam-Michel’s upcoming album we can expect a lot of experimental noise and soundscapes. JM may even have used field recording as a means of powering up his electronic ventures.

Jean-Michel Jarre is back with his 22nd album this October, embracing VR technology with whats described as a groundbreaking new VR universe known as ‘Oxyville’. The album is a homage to the late French composer Pierre Henry and will be available in both stereo and binaural sound.

He explains:

Oxyville will be a virtual music city, and in the future I will invite other artists to be a part of it, as well as hold masterclasses and other events. I want it to become a sandbox for new music experiences.”

The first single from the album, entitled Brutalism is now available as stream & download. You can pre-order the album today: https://jeanmicheljarre.com/

Jarre calls Oxymore his most ambitious project to date. It’s described as “an extremely conceptual work, dedicated to late French composer Pierre Henry.”

Henry (1927 – 2017) is best known as a pioneer of musique concrète – electronic music that’s based on the tangible manipulation of sampled sound. In the 1940’s, Henry – along with French composer Pierre Schaeffer – created a style of music, built on the physical manipulation of sounds on tape.

“I believe that the tape recorder is the best instrument for the composer who really wants to create by ear for the ear,” explained Henry.

Jarre and Henry had plans for a collaboration for Jarre’s album Electronica, but Henry died before it was completed. After Henry’s death, his widow gave Jarre the stems of material that had been prepared for this collaboration. Jarre used this material as the foundation of Oxymore.

Oxymore is described as “a musical journey, where Pierre Henry’s sounds interact with Jarre’s, in an elegant dance between digital and analogue sounds, inspired by the French movement ‘musique concrete’.”