Équinoxe by Jean-Michel Jarre

Équinoxe is Jean-Michel Jarre's 1978 instrumental album, the follow up to his landmark Oxygène. It is one continuous electronic suite in eight parts, built entirely on synthesisers and sequencers. I found it decades after release, drawn back through the roots of electronic music, and it felt like discovering a lost country.

Why listen?

The sound is warm and analogue, synth lines that pulse, drift, and surge. The production is rich for its age, each part flowing into the next without a gap. There are no words here, only mood and motion, a sense of weather and tide moving through the music. There is a real journey across the suite, from quiet dawn to bright climax and back to calm. It is electronic music that breathes rather than merely beeps.

Favourite song: Équinoxe Part 4

The most propulsive section, its bright sequenced melody driving forward with real lift. It is the moment the suite truly takes flight.

The synths build in waves here, layer over layer, until the whole thing feels like wind picking up across open ground. It reminds me of a high exposed ridge where the gusts come strong and steady and you lean into them and walk on. The suite holds that motion, a path that rises and falls like a long day outdoors, and finding it late made it feel freshly mine.

Key takeaway

Équinoxe is a flowing, warm electronic suite that still sounds alive. A gentle recommendation for anyone curious where modern electronic music began.

Tracklist

• Équinoxe Part 1
• Équinoxe Part 2
• Équinoxe Part 3
• Équinoxe Part 4
• Équinoxe Part 5
• Équinoxe Part 6
• Équinoxe Part 7
• Équinoxe Part 8

Details

Listen on

• Apple Music
• Amazon
• Spotify

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