Whether it was when Air's musical narration tiptoed behind insomniacs as they wandered through a neon Tokyo in Lost In Translation or when it cried out along with the Lisbon sisters as they pulled their blonde hair out in The Virgin Suicides, this French duo's moody electronica served well and successfully (director Sofia Coppola is probably the band's #1 groupie) as background music for the silver screen.
It's no surprise then that Air's newest record, Pocket Symphony, is the band's conscious effort to backtrack to the heavy-on-the-mood, light-on-the-pop aesthetics of their previous work with motion-picture soundtracks.
There is no Air without the buzz and echoes of drum machines and space-age synthesizers. Rest assured that band mates Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benot Dunckel still have their heads in the cosmos as opposed to the clouds. But to continue on with horrible puns, Pocket Symphony drifts a bit into the atmosphere without losing Air's signature ambient sounds.
The raw hit of piano keys and plunk of acoustic guitar strings are heard above the synthetic sounds, helping to ground the record into something more concrete, more natural. But the anti-pop philosophy behind its creation may have more to do with it. Consider Pocket Symphony as more of Talkie Walkie's patient "Alone in Kyoto" and less of the urgent pop construction of "Surfing on a Rocket." Both tracks evoke a sense of place, but "Alone" accomplishes this without the distraction of a traditional pop song's hook and rhythm.
Pocket Symphony's instrumental tracks speak to Dunckel's comment that he and Godin were "trying to get away from the pop sound."
"Lost Message" is beautifully uncertain; the piano lines start and then re-start with no clear destination, creating a near-perfect mood of disconnection. Unlike the forgettable instrumental "Mayfair Song," "Lost" and the pressing urgency of its piano chords dispel any sense of bored indifference.
There are consequences to Air's newest approach. The record's most regrettable track, "One Hell of a Party," chronicles the morning after a party where "nobody ever got to bed." It follows the less-is-more aesthetic, but the track could have used a shot of whatever kept everyone from sleeping. Pop icon Jarvis Cocker's low vocals don't help the dull song and only confirm its status as a lullaby.
Nevertheless, "One Hell of a Party" has one hell of a redeemable quality: Godin spent a year learning the koto and shamisen heard in the song. The strings of the Far Eastern classical instruments are most notably featured in the record's best (and surprisingly, the most upbeat) track "Mer Du Japon." Listen for the brief duet between synthesized sea waves and the pluck of the koto that, like cherry blossoms, fade out soon after they fade in. Both the koto and the shamisen are deftly played by Godin and are seamlessly integrated within Air's repertoire of sounds without a pretense of Orientalism.
The most recent addition to a line of Air records titled with simple two-word phrases (see: Talkie Walkie, Moon Safari), Pocket Symphony is the one record that lives up to its minimalist label. But as the providers of full, melodic synth-pop to the soundtrack of my own life, I'd rather Air not forget their pop side.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
