Air

Air’s latest effort brings about a big change in the band’s musical outlook. Gone are the heavy doses of humor and the up-tempo tracks are all but missing. Good or bad, Air has finally given in the stereotype of how others describe their sound. While choosing to focus their efforts on the dreamy aspects of their sound, Air have found a comfortable space to grow old in. Their debut Moon Safari introduced the world at large to a band that made music like no one else in their time with laid back landscapes and songs bursting with charisma (Check out “Kelly Watch the Stars” for an example).

After their debut, the band then indulged itself in dark territory with the thrilling score to The Virgin Suicides. With their proper follow up album, 10,000 hz Legend, Air shed their laidback approach for one that was more confrontational. 10,000 hz was full of quirky masterpieces like “Don’t Be Light” and “Wonder Milky Bitch.” After two albums, Air gave the impression that they were not going to pigeonhole themselves into the alternative easy listening category. On their fourth, Talkie Walkie, Air surprised its audience with a surprisingly mature album filled with those familiar sounds from Moon Safari, but also keeping some of the oddities of 10,000 hz. The material landed Air in a Heineken commercial with “Alpha Beta Gaga” and in Sofia Coppola’s film Lost In Translation.

With the delivery of this year’s Pocket Symphony, Air has refined their sound yet again. Instead of fighting themselves into new territory, Symphony trades all the elements of surprise for consistency. Every song on Pocket Symphony is unmistakable Air – from it’s opening strains until it’s closing number, any past or present fan of the band could identify the trademark sound. What is more present on this album than any of its predecessors is its cinematic quality exhibited on tracks such as “Mayfair Song.” Once the expectancy of change is let go, the album’s charms start to come out quite freely. While it is easily the weakest of Air’s numerous efforts, it is by no means a blemish on their career… as long as this is just a stop over and not a destination. In addition to staying a little too calm throughout, Air need to retire their gimmick of manipulating their voices to sound female. This is evident as Nicolas sings in his normal voice on album standout “Left Bank,” which remains gentle while exposing a more melodic and structured side of Air.

Air finally gives in to percussion on the album’s most upbeat and irresistibly charming “Mer Du Japan.” At a brief two and a half minutes, it is both enough to breathe life towards the albums closing tracks and enough to make the listener crave more of its style. The album grows more interesting as it progresses and still shines with a lot of the quality that makes Air one of the better bands of the modern era. As with all their releases, Air will hopefully find new ground to cover in the future. As long as they don’t wait their standard three years to release another album, Pocket Symphony might be looked back upon with the same reverence as their other great records.

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