Legendary French composer and film scorer Jean Michel Jarre has been on a collaboration binge of late. His last project Electronica 1: The Time Machine saw him work with the likes of M83, Armin van Buuren, Air, Moby, Gessafelstein, Pete Townshend and Massive Attack. However he may have just gone out there and done his most intriguing and strange collaboration to date, reaching well beyond the scope of music to one of the more polarizing figures in technology and politics - Edward Snowden. Yes, Jean Michel Jarre made a track with Edward Snowden called "Exit."
Snowden wasn't there twiddling with nobs and eqing bass with Jarre, but just provided a spoken work portion about the dangers of technology, privacy and government surveillance. The standard stuff one expects from the former NSA contractor.
Speaking to The Guardian who takes credit for setting up the collaboration, Jean-Michel Jarre was really excited to work with someone like Snowden.
"Edward is an absolute hero of our times," said Jarre. "When I first read about him, it made me think of my mother. She joined the French resistance in 1941, when people in France still thought they were just troublemakers, and she always told me that when society is generating things you can't stand, you have to stand up against it."
Though Snowden declined comment, speaking to Jarre in a video, he admitted to being a fan of electronic music.
"The melodies I remember with the most fondness are from video games"
The song will appear on Jarre's next album Electronic Volume II: The Heart Of Noise. This excited Snowden, to be a part of such a music project.
"It was something I wasn't expecting. As an engineer, someone who's not really cool, it was something of a treat to collaborate on a big cultural project."
The track itself is dark and brooding, relying on a fast, repetitive and acid-tinged melody, bouncing over a chugging bass line. The Snowden monologue kind of kills the momentum of the track, but it is more of novelty item than a great track.
