Swedish duo Air France have released some of the best Balearic music of the last few years. Their two EPs for Gothenburg label Sincerely Yours (also home of The Tough Alliance and jj), On Trade Winds and No Way Down were both stunning, perfectly-formed pop records, and were released together in the UK as a sort-of-debut album for Rough Trade late last year.

Well, now there will be a proper debut album. All we know so far is that it’s coming out on XL, and currently being recorded by the duo in their Gothenburg studio, so we presume the release date will be early next year.

[Update: the reliably on it Exclaim mag write in to inform us that after chasing Air France’s Canadian press officer, the band have actually signed a publishing deal with the band, rather than an actual record deal. Which isn’t quite the same thing. Oh, and we got some words from the duo on the album: they’re looking at a Spring 2010 release, it will be ten songs long, and will be ‘miraculous’. Nice!]

To tide fans of the group over ’til the album’s release, Air France have released a vaguely conceptual single titled ‘GBG [Gothenburg] Belongs to Us: A Love Letter in Three Parts’. It takes the form of a website that contains a "tourist guide" (Part 1), a song (Part 2) and a video (Part 3). You can experience the whole thing here; the overall effect is supposed to be a "love letter to their home town." We’d recommend you download it; it’s a fine addition to Air France’s oeuvre, and a pastelled-out summer jam in the same vein as labelmates jj’s recent ‘From Africa to Malaga’.

We’d presume that this news means that both members of the band are present and correct. Joel, one half of the duo, recently posted the following blog on the Air France myspace:

Hello there,

still no Henrik in the studio, has he quit the band, who knows?

no text messages, no phone calls.

just some recently written song lyrics in his black note book:

"She’s my girl at the bus stop, she’s never late

She’s always there at eightand oh, I wish she wouldn’t take the no.9And oh, I only wish she’ll take the same bus mine, sometimeAnd oh, if she would only say helloI’m really very tempted, to follow her to see where see goes" However, I think that means that I am lonely. But not alone. Will try responding to emails from today, sorry for all the mess. 

Air France recently had both On Trade Winds and No Way Down released on vinyl, via Acephale, who you might know from past releases by Salem and CFCF. In typical Acephale fashion, they’re long sold out. More information on that debut album as it comes.