Downwind catches Pierre Moerlen's Gong at the precise moment the old Gong mythology burns off and something leaner, harder and more aerodynamic emerges. Released in early 1979 as the first album to carry Moerlen’s name up front, it formalises a shift that had been brewing since Daevid Allen’s departure a few years earlier: the pixie‑psychedelic space caravan gives way to a percussion‑driven jazz‑rock unit obsessed with architecture, groove and impact. Where earlier Gong records sprawled in all directions, Downwind is all about clean lines and controlled lift, built around Moerlen’s drums and an arsenal of tuned percussion that turns rhythm into sculpture.

The album’s reputation rests partly on its guest list and partly on its internal tension between fusion discipline and pop temptation. On one hand, it features some of the era’s most distinctive players: Mike Oldfield drops in to saturate the 12‑minute title track with incandescent guitar and keyboards, riding Moerlen’s marimba and vibraphone patterns the way he once surfed his own Tubular Bells figures, while Steve Winwood threads discreet Moog and synth colours through the same piece, nudging it toward widescreen drama. Elsewhere, Magma’s Didier Lockwood brings wiry, acrobatic violin to “Crosscurrents,” stitching a line back to the European jazz avant‑garde even as the rhythm section locks into a bright, almost funk‑rock propulsion. Yet alongside these extended fusion workouts sit “Aeroplane” and “What You Know,” two concise vocal tracks that flirt with prog‑rock and radio‑ready songcraft - the only time Moerlen would really commit to fronting more conventional songs, and a clear sign that he was willing to test how far Gong’s percussion‑centric language could stretch toward pop.