Oxygene 7-13 & Oxygene Tour

Get ready for the ultimate album from Jean Michel Jarre. The French composer is back to claim his rightful title as the godfather of electronic music with his new album Oxygene 7‑13. It may well be the 20th anniversary of the original Oxygene album but Jarre isn't firing any retro rockets. This is a fresh intake of Oxygene... and these are soundscapes for the millennium.

In the two decades since the first album started a French revolution in music that reverberated around the world, Jean Michel Jarre has opened the door for the computerised uprising of the 1990's, from the ambient stylings of Robert Miles to the techno attack of the Prodigy.

Oxygene 7‑13 was recorded over a twelve‑month period at Jarre's studio in Paris. It follows a frenzied twelve months with Jarre gathering his thoughts and ideas.

To go forward so confidently, Jarre kept ahead of the pack by looking backward. He remains ever the wily musical tactician. Jarre swept aside the latest technological gadgets whilst recording Oxygene 7‑13 and returned to his original analogue synthesizers upon which he based his very first work.

What appealed to Jarre about these old machines — the "Stradivarius of electronic music," as he calls them — was what they can't do as much as what they can. These early analogue synths do not have a memory, so that sounds cannot be replicated. "They are developed by musicians, researchers who didn't have to worry about profitability or marketing," he enthuses. "They built their instruments simply because they were enjoying the technology."

Which is precisely what Jarre himself continues to do, making synthesiser music a living, breathing thing with a sound that is simply unique. Oxygene 7‑13 picks up the theme of the first album and takes the instrumental escapades from Part 7 through to Part 13.

Jean Michel Jarre's creative span has been boundless, for twenty years as a famous composer and almost thirty as an inquisitive musician. Oxygene 7‑13 is about to reaffirm his place in the spotlight of modern sound.

Welcome back to the true sonic godfather.

The original Oxygene album started a French revolution in sound. Oxygene 7‑13 is about to reaffirm Jarre's place in the cosa nostra of modern sound. Welcome back to the true sonic godfather!

We have been eagerly awaiting this album for almost four years, after his last studio album, Chronologie. With Jarre's Concert for Tolerance in 1995, fans were kept happy — but little did they know of the creative thoughts Jarre was gathering during the build‑up to the show. The following year, Jarre locked himself away from the world's gaze and started creating his continuation to Oxygene.

The Dinosaurs

With Oxygene, Jarre has made a somewhat about‑turn with technology. Twenty years ago, he was at the forefront of utilising modern electronic tools, enthusing about the synthesizer being the medium of the age. He explained, "One century ago I would have used the symphony orchestra, but now a composer who is not conscious of electronics is a reactionary. We've come a long way since then, and if we don't fully utilise our understanding of technology and use that to reflect our times then we are still living in the past."

Over the last twenty years, Jarre continued to forge ahead with the medium, using breakthroughs such as sound samples for the first time with Zoolook, mixing old and new instruments with the Calypso compositions right through to Chronologie. However, with Oxygene 7‑13 he decided to take a step back to the early analogue synthesizers. Some needed repairing, others needed to be found, but, in the end, Jarre was able to re‑capture the sounds he strived for with the ARP, the Moog, the Eminent, and the Mellotron.

Collaborators

Jean Michel Jarre worked alone, with the exception of studio engineer Patrick Pelamourgues. He travelled extensively to gain inspiration, to get a clear perspective of what he was trying to achieve — breaking away the walls of the recording studio, using rural settings for inspiration for moods, not necessarily sounds.

Such is the importance of the Oxygene 7‑13 album to Jarre that he re‑named his home studio in the grounds of his Croissy‑sur‑Seine home, now called Oxygene Studio. Towards the completion of the album he called upon two musicians to join him: Francis Rimbert, who has worked with Jarre for over ten years and helped choose which recorded pieces would make the album, and Christian Sales, who had never previously worked with Jarre but was introduced to him by Michel Geiss back in 1993. Christian, who works for Roland and lives in Lyon, worked mainly on the most upbeat track on the album, Oxygene 8.

The album was mastered by Greg Calbi at Masterdisk in New York in November.

Oxygene Live

After spending twelve months in the recording studio, Jean Michel Jarre will take the album live in 1997 with his first European arena tour, visiting most of Europe over a four‑month period. He wants to create a far more intimate atmosphere than was possible with his outdoor spectaculars — these concerts will be taken indoors, with the focus set firmly on the music itself. Though theatrics and computer images will still be used, they will aid the music rather than the other way around.

Oxygene 2?

This album is the first to be published by Sony Music in a new licensing agreement, on the Epic label worldwide. Richard Ogden, Senior VP Marketing for Sony Music Entertainment Europe, said in January that the deal reflected Jarre's originality and unique talent, and that Sony looked forward to the album's release. Francis Dreyfus called it a natural extension of a fruitful collaboration, citing Paul Russell and Richard Ogden as old friends and a deciding factor.

The album was originally to be titled Oxygene 2 but was renamed in November to Oxygene 7‑13 to better reflect the continuation from the original.

As part of the promotion, the first single released was Oxygene 8 — internationally at the end of January, and March 3rd in the UK — remixed by a number of prominent remixers, with tracks released across various CD Maxis. One CD included multimedia files in the CD Extra format, and Oxygene 7‑13 was also the first of Jarre's albums released on Sony's mini‑disc format.

A twelve‑minute mix was under review in the UK, due for completion the last week of January with a view to a March 3rd release. A limited‑edition CD featuring a 3D cover (produced in Italy, re‑photographed original artwork) was pressed in a run of only 50,000, distributed around Europe and exclusive to Virgin Megastore in the UK.

Following Oxygene 8, the next single planned was Oxygene 10, with remixers still being discussed at the time of writing.

Jarre filmed the video for Oxygene 8 in London in the last week of November — an exploration of the letter "O" from Oxygene, seen through many moving lenses representing the inside and outside world. It was directed by Kevin Godley (ex‑10cc, Godley & Creme), known for U2's "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and the Mission: Impossible theme for Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen.

Jarre also returned to the original cover artist, Michel Granger, for extensive discussions on the new album's imagery — the artist produced a continuation of the original, reversing the image so the heart is represented by the world. The skull from the original cover was considered for one of the booklet pages but eventually removed. Sony Music is producing a limited number of lithographs of the cover, signed by Granger, for promotional use.

The Web

"Welcome to my web site," announces Jean Michel Jarre in one of a series of video clips recorded for the multimedia experience at www.jarre.com. Initially developed to promote Oxygene 7‑13, the site has plans for a virtual studio, a fan message board, and audio/video clips from Jarre's projects. It's being developed in France by Sony Multimedia and goes online in February.

Worldwide Release

Sony Music is releasing the album worldwide, and for the first time in many years it will be released and promoted in the USA and Canada. In Europe, Sony Music Europe covers all countries except France, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, which are handled by Sony Music France / Francis Dreyfus Music.

The Promotion

Different territories have differing marketing plans, generally built around a teaser poster campaign linking back to the original best‑seller. Oxygene 8 was exclusively broadcast on Europe 1 radio in December. France plans campaigns in FNAC stores and the Virgin Megastore on the Champs‑Élysées, plus a special March edition of Keyboards Magazine and a February issue of Home Studio covering the recording.

The cover was exclusively revealed in the January 18th edition of Music and Media. Sony Music was also finalising a Zoom Book giveaway with FNAC, by New York artist Istvan Banyai — a series of images zooming out from a living room to the Earth, ending on the album cover as a London poster.

In the UK, billboards go up in London from the first week of February (Heathrow, Hammersmith, West End, Holborn, Park Royal), followed by posters and more billboards around release week, plus Channel 4 commercials. Press coverage is planned in the Sunday Times, Mojo, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, The European, Wired, and the Guardian, with adverts in Q, Record Mirror and Mixmag Update. Major UK retailers — WH Smith, Woolworths, Our Price, Virgin, HMV, MVC, Andy's — are running dedicated campaigns.

Jarre will attend a signing session at FAME in Amsterdam on February 11th, with the album available early there, and will visit Germany on February 19th–20th, plus a wider promotional tour across Europe through January and February.

A European launch party took place at the Hayward Gallery in London on January 30th — guests listened on wireless headsets while walking the gallery past human statues, with no music played aloud. Jarre held a brief photo‑call with Charlotte Rampling before a press conference announcing the album and tour. Each guest received an exclusive CD of the entire album, with only 400 pressed for the event.

Looking ahead, Jarre has a project planned around World Cup '98, hoping to have Oxygene 7‑13 remixed by artists from each qualifying country. Asked which Oxygene he prefers, Jarre quipped: "The next one, the third one, which will be twenty years from now!"

Why does Jean Michel Jarre, renowned for his electronic adventures, view Oxygene 7‑13 as his re‑plugged album? Chronologie, his previous studio album, was released over three years earlier — the longest gap Jarre has taken between albums. Here he talks through how he made the record.

The Album

The idea wasn't to do a "Rocky 2" — more to continue something from years before. Jarre had the idea almost right after finishing the first Oxygene, without a fixed timeline for revisiting it. It arrived now, as more people are drawn back to analogue instruments, much like a guitarist returning to an old Stratocaster. If Chronologie-era work was "unplugged," this is "re‑plugged" — back to his roots, to textures and sounds without a particular strategy.

Jarre describes the main excitement of making music as working with textures and colours, treating sounds almost like actors being directed. That's why the album spans parts 7–13 (the first covered 1–6) — an attempt to start from raw elements, like sculpting stone, using instruments like the Mellotron and Theremin alongside the first analogue synthesizers, letting sounds take shape the way fingers gradually take the shape of their neighbours over time. A large part of the composition involved "kneading" sounds at the console.

He felt the first Oxygene had a transparent quality from its minimalism — few layers, each given space. That openness was the hardest thing to recapture on the new record, which has a different pace and mood as a true continuation rather than a repeat. One early rule was never using more than eight elements or tracks at once — giving each sound room, "a kind of oxygen."

The Instruments

Jarre reflects that a first work — a first film, book, or record — is made unconsciously, carrying everything that came before it; later projects try to adjust, contradict, or explore other fields. Returning to Oxygene meant returning to that unconscious way of perceiving sound, starting again with his first analogue instruments — part of his "personal museum" and what he calls the Stradivarius of electronic music: old Moogs, ARPs, Mellotron, Eminent. He describes feeling organic and tactile, like a craftsman playing with ingredients rather than concepts.

The Inspiration

Jarre travelled extensively for the project, seeking not sonic influences but landscapes and moods, trying to avoid preconceived themes. Using a single keyboard and small recorder — like a portable acoustic instrument — let him make music on a mountaintop or by the sea, breaking the walls of the recording studio. He didn't copy the original but kept its memory, aiming for a true continuation using instruments he loves alongside the digital experience gained through the 1980s.

He notes the irony that analogue instruments largely disappeared in the early '80s as creators like Robert Moog went bankrupt facing Japanese industrial synth manufacturing — only for Moog to revive the Mini‑Moog that same February, driven by demand from the techno and dance scene wanting that intimate analogue feel.

The Mixing

For this project, mixing became part of the composition itself. Shifting one element — like the bass — changes the whole perspective of the soundscape, requiring everything to be repositioned. This constant manual re‑positioning gave the sounds a special life that was important to the record.

The Remixing

Jarre enjoys the remix process because it extends his immersion in the work past the album's completion — remixing single after single lets him keep experimenting on a "finished" project, which he finds exciting even though he eventually has to stop.

The Cover

Jarre considers the album cover hugely important — arguably more important to his work than for a songs‑based album — offering a visual continuation of the story. He returned to Michel Granger, who created the covers for Oxygene, Equinoxe and Rendezvous. Granger reversed the original concept: where the first cover placed a human presence within the Earth, the new one places the Earth inside a human figure, as its heart. The first cover carried ecological undertones fitting the late '70s; the new one relates more to the daily struggle of survival by the century's end. Jarre likes displaying both covers back‑to‑back as a graphic statement continuing the original idea.

The Video

Kevin Godley directed the first video around the idea of music as the interface between inner and outer worlds — a meditation on the "O" of Oxygene, using a device of lenses through which Jarre sees the world and is seen in a deformed way. Jarre notes seven and thirteen are interesting numbers — seven lucky, thirteen chance — and that outcomes were partly left to chance. He isn't fixated on being the star of the video; his presence depends entirely on whether the concept calls for it.

The Web Site

Jarre is excited by the poetic and mysterious appeal of the Internet even among people who don't fully understand or use it — fascinated more by what it represents than by the technical process of using it. He compares it to how audiences remain captivated by rough video animation even in the age of HDTV, because it carries a sense of pioneering new territory.

The Conclusion

Jarre reflects that Oxygene carries who he is — that it takes time to accept what you're capable of doing, and a belief in repeating and refining your work until you find what you're truly trying to express. He hopes Oxygene 7‑13 carries the same naïveté and spontaneity as the first album, combined with the experience of who he is today.

Jean Michel Jarre returns to Europe for his first-ever arena tour, promising a far more intimate experience than his large-scale "concept" concerts of the past.

Back in 1993, "Europe in Concert" was a major success, marking Jarre's first tour of stadium venues after years of one‑off, city‑scale outdoor spectaculars. That tour offered more intimate contact with audiences than his usual "sea of heads," making a smaller, indoor tour feel inevitable.

With Oxygene 7‑13, Jarre dedicates much of 1997 to his first fully indoor project — theatres and arenas, blending theatrical effects and computer imagery, with the focus placed squarely on the music and performance rather than the outdoor concept‑driven spectacle of shows in Houston, China, and elsewhere.

He describes outdoor free concerts as spaces where the crowd itself creates the theatre, versus a completely different, more contained relationship with an indoor audience. He wants to explore a concept without a singer, where the music performs, assisted by the scenography — the intimate venues giving the music new meaning. Touring in this form is new territory for him, since even his past tours involved entirely different concepts each time.

Jarre isn't abandoning large-scale audiences altogether — he plans to bring the tour online, mixing an intimate theatre mood with an Internet or on‑line dimension, combining intimacy with total exposure.

He explains the indoor move is deeply connected to returning to Oxygene and analogue instruments; his outdoor productions are their own art form, blending architecture, environment and lighting around the music. He wants the indoor show to use real theatrical techniques — organic, human, painted decors — rather than simply shrinking an outdoor production into a smaller space.

He remained tight‑lipped in London about the show's specific content, promising a focus on music and performance with theatrical effects he hopes will be as spectacular as his outdoor work, just achieved differently. Touring nightly will be a genuinely new and, in his words, "terrifying" experience given how experienced other touring acts are compared to him. He'd like to involve techno‑scene DJs from various countries, and by year's end expects the album to be extensively remixed.

The tour is planned in two stages: Northern Europe (France, Scandinavia, UK) in May and June, and Southern Europe in September/October (unconfirmed). Most shows are indoor arenas and halls, though some outdoor amphitheatre dates may occur in the same format. The tour kicks off with a warm‑up concert in Toulon, France, on Saturday, May 3rd.

From Oxygene 1–13, Michel Granger has created the cover artwork for Jarre's albums. He discusses his fascination with the Earth as a subject and his long friendship with Jarre, dating back to 1976.

On the new painting: The Oxygene 7‑13 cover is an acrylic painting on a 60x80cm canvas, taking two weeks to complete after four months of exploring other ideas before returning to his first instinct. Long conversations with Jarre about how the album should be visually presented guided the final image, which depicts the universe, the Earth, humanity, and the heart — symbolising the expansion and retraction of the universe, and read differently across cultures as a centre of either emotion or intelligence and intuition.

On the music: Granger says he doesn't listen to Jarre's music while working for him — he listens to Jarre himself, since the music is a result of what's inside him, and understanding that is what matters for creating an image that serves and extends his message.

On Jarre's music generally: Granger admires both the man and the music — an admiration built over twenty years of friendship since Oxygene was written in 1976.

On inspiration: He finds it in the press, the street, his travels and everyday life. He particularly admires a few pictures by René Magritte, though his own style and subjects differ.

On his process: Finishing a piece can take enormously long — sometimes a month and a half, as with the previous Jarre cover including sketches and preparation — though occasionally a solution comes quickly and a painting is finished in three or four days.

On the recurring Earth theme: He considered retiring it once, but instead decided to push it as far as possible rather than abandon it, while still exploring other ideas.

On how the Jarre covers came about: The original Oxygene and Equinoxe paintings already existed before being used as covers, as did the Basket single artwork. The Rendezvous cover was a reworking of an existing piece — Granger feels the darker original, used for a cancer‑research fight, was actually better. The Chronologie painting was created specifically at Jarre's request, without Granger having heard any music beforehand; he considers it better that way, since music shouldn't directly generate the image. That cover was later computer‑adapted, a version Granger felt lost some of the original's nuance, though he accepts it was suited to concert use — while believing the original painting will simply last longer than any computer‑generated version.

On naming: His paintings often share the album's title — Oxygene was already named that, so there was no reason to call it anything else. The Equinoxe painting, however, is titled "Le Trac" (fright) in his own book, and the Chronologie piece is called "Desire."

On the future: Granger's dream is simply to travel, to get out of Paris and work elsewhere — and he'd be glad to collaborate with Jarre again if asked.