Era (styled as +eRa+) is a French New Age music project headed by composer Eric Lévi.
Most of their lyrics are written by Guy Protheroe using words and phrases that, although sounding similar to Greek or Latin, are in fact deliberately devoid of any exact meaning. Also notable for providing the soundtrack to the medieval-themed Time Travel comedy film series Les Visiteurs.
Albums:
- Era (1996)
- Era 2 (2000)
- The Mass (2003)
- Reborn (2008)
- Arielle Dombasle by Era (2013)
They provide examples of:
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: As long as it sounds Latin, to be exact. The lyrics are actually meaningless. The title of one of their songs, Divano, translates to "couch".
- Associated Composer: Eric Lévi has worked with director Jean-Marie Poiré five times — L'Opération Corned-Beef, the Les Visiteurs trilogy and Guardian Angels.
- Canis Latinicus: All the fake Latin at least sounds convincing enough.
- Gratuitous Latin: Omnipresent; except in the songs where portions of the lyrics are in English, French, or Arabic instead.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: It's generally not real Latin, but it sounds ominous all the same. Outstanding examples are "Enae Volare" and "Sins". "The Mass" however is essentially "O Fortuna" but in their style, and oddly repeats the refrain from "Divano".
- One-Woman Wail: Many of their songs feature female vocalists in the lead, such as "Tiesto Demoni".
