Pocket Symphony

In the French tradition of Jean Michel Jarre, the duo of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel were clearly intent on creating le sexy musique electronique when they arrived on the scene in the late ‘90s. But unlike their compatriot, who developed a fascination for ridiculous outdoor spectacles, Air were keen to expand their sound beyond the chic dreamy soundscapes of debut ‘Moon Safari’.

Along the way they tried out a darker sound, recruited guests like Beck, tried out Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, and embraced organic instruments like guitars, flutes, glockenspiels and the Japanese koto. But the results didn’t always match the duo’s ambitions, with neither ’10 000 Hz Legend’ and ‘Talkie Walkie’ proving to be as transcendental as their first album.

‘Pocket Symphony’ comes close, offering mysterious Pink Floydian instrumentals alongside breezy pop songs and atmospheric interludes that wouldn’t be out of place on a film soundtrack.

Letting the instruments do the talking, they glide through the dark side of the ‘70s with ‘Space Maker’, trot along to the spacey piano ditty that is ‘Mayfair Song’.

But their movie-style love theme ‘Lost Message’ is as trite and insipid as you’d expect from a Hollywood blockbuster instead of a French arthouse offering. And the ambient ‘Night Sight’ spends four minutes fumbling around in the dark.

Even if Dunckel’s breezy vocals and inconsequential lyrics are about as weighty as candyfloss, there’s more weight to tracks like the hypnotic ‘Once Upon A Time’, decidedly eerie ‘Napalm Love’, low key folksong ‘Left Bank’, and the throbbing, Japanese-flavoured ‘Mer Du Japon’ — one of the album’s highlights.

But the finest moments of ‘Pocket Symphony’ come when the Frenchmen leave the singing and wordplay to the professionals. The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon has the ideal voice for the majestically understated ‘Somewhere Between Waking And Sleeping’, while a world-weary Jarvis Cocker is the perfect interpreter of Sunday morning comedown/confession ‘One Hell Of A Party’.

It may have taken a few outside collaborators and a couple of years, but Air have finally hit gold again.