Oxymore

Oxymore is the twenty-second studio album by French musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre. It was released on 21 October 2022 through Sony and Columbia.[1][2][3]

Oxymore
Studio album by
Jean-Michel Jarre
Released21 October 2022 (2022-10-21)
Recorded2021
Genre
Length49:02
Label
ProducerJean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel Jarre chronology
Radiophonie Vol. 12
(2022)		 Oxymore
(2022)
Singles from Oxymore
  1. "Brutalism"
    Released: 26 August 2022

Background

Originally, Jarre was planning a collaboration with the French composer Pierre Henry, one of Jarre's influences, but Henry died in 2017 and the collaboration was never completed. Henry had however recorded some sound bites for the collaboration, which Jarre used for the album.[1] Jarre then added his own compositions on top.[2]

Jarre stated: "I chose some of his sounds precisely from one track to another. 'Oxymore' is also a tribute to the French way of approaching modern music, electroacoustic music, and my early studies at the GRM where Pierre definitely influenced the future of electronic music worldwide, along with Pierre Schaeffer."[1]

Jarre was also inspired by the French movement “musique concrete”, a genre that utilises recorded sounds as raw material.[1]

Jarre stated that the true sound is not stereo but can be heard in 360 degrees.[4] He stated that the album can be best heard with headphones or more advanced audio systems.[1][3][5]

"Brutalism" is the first single of the album.[6] Several remixes have been done, including one by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode and another by Deathpact.[4]

Jarre will also be doing several VR live shows called "Oxyville", providing a digital stage for him to perform the album live in VR.[4] One of the shows was broadcast live in 2D on Jarre's social media channels on 24 October 2022.[4]

Virtual world OXYVILLE was developed by French company VRROOM and became publicly available from 24 October 2022. VR Project produced by Jean-Michel Jarre and Louis Cacciuttolo, designed by art-director Pavel Pavlyukov and directed by Georgy Molodtsov received Webby Awards - People's Voice Winner in Metaverse, Immersive & Virtual / Best Experiential Design category in 2023,[7] as well Nomination and Honoree in 2022,[8] Raindance Immersive Honourable Mentioning,[9] Stereopsia Crystal Owl Award for the Best Production Design and Producers Guild of America Innovation Award nomination.[10]

Reviews

Julian Marszalek of Classic Rock rated it three stars out of five and called it "an album that asks more questions than it offers answers".[2] Marszalek also found that the album offers mixed results.[2]

Gianluca Faliero of Parkett wrote that it is not one of Jarre's better compositions.[11]

Shrey Kathuria of The Quietus describes Oxymore as "a record that cleverly entwines dark and tense songwriting and delivers a hauntingly curious resolution, like the ending of the very computer games it so adroitly emulates"[12]

Formats

Oxymore was released on CD, double vinyl and digital in stereo, binaural, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos mixes. The physical product also includes a code to access the highest quality binaural master.[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jean-Michel Jarre

Oxymore track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Agora"1:34
2."Oxymore"4:45
3."Neon Lips"4:27
4."Sonic Land"6:01
5."Animal Genesis"5:46
6."Synthy Sisters"3:20
7."Sex in the Machine"5:45
8."Zeitgeist"3:06
9."Crystal Garden"4:09
10."Brutalism"4:41
11."Epica"5:25
Total length:49:02

Bonus Tracks

1. "Synthy Sisters Take 2"

Charts
Chart performance for Oxymore
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13] 17
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 16
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 12
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 21
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 20
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 14
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[19] 14
Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] 99
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[21] 11
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[22] 24
Scottish Albums (OCC)[23] 14
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[24] 27
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 11
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 41
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[27] 1

References
  1. "Jean-Michel Jarre releasing 22nd studio album". MSN. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  2. Marszalek, Julian (22 October 2022). "Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxymore: an album that asks more questions than it offers answers". loudersound. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  3. "Jean-Michel Jarre: 'I feel sorry for those who are scared about the future'". The Independent. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  4. "Jean-Michel Jarre Releases His 22nd Studio Album 'OXYMORE'". Grateful Web. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  5. "Oxymore : l'hommage de Jean-Michel Jarre à la musique électroacoustique française". France Musique (in French). 21 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  6. Fernández, Àlex Martínez (20 October 2022). "La leyenda electrónica Jean-Michel Jarre vuelve con "OXYMORE"". MondoSonoro (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  7. "NEW Webby Gallery + Index". NEW Webby Gallery + Index. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  8. "NEW Webby Gallery + Index". NEW Webby Gallery + Index. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  9. "Oxymore". Raindance Immersive. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  10. Coates, Tyler (10 February 2023). "Producers Guild Reveals 2023 Innovation Award Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  11. Faliero, Gianluca (21 October 2022). ""Oxymore" di Jean-Michel Jarre è un buon disco, ma..." Parkett (in Italian). Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  12. Shrey, Gianluca (25 October 2022). "Jean-Michel Jarre, Oxymore".
  13. "Austriancharts.at – Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxymore" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  14. "Ultratop.be – Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxymore" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  15. "Ultratop.be – Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxymore" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxymore" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  17. "Top Albums (Week 43, 2022)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxymore" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  19. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2022. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  20. "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 43 (dal 21.10.2022 al 27.10.2022)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  21. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  22. "Portuguesecharts.com – Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxymore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  23. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  24. "Top 100 Albums Weekly". El portal de Música. PROMUSICAE. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  25. "Swisscharts.com – Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxymore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  26. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  27. "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
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