Air Talkie Walkie

• Words: Daniel Siwek
• Label: Virgin

Air's comeback is an understated and elegant travelogue that shows both where they've been and where they plan on taking us. Talkie Walkie recalls the freshness of Premiers Symptomes (with it's Emmanuelle-in-space production and soft-core innocence) and incorporates the charming choruses that the band unearthed on Moon Safari. Gone is all that Pink Floyd grandeur (Dark Side via Virgin Suicides), but not forgotten is the technical gloom Air has acquired from Radiohead. They don't glitch out, though, choosing instead to romance the listener through whistles, lush string arrangements (from Serge Gainsbourg's man Michel Colobier), and Western guitars. With Talkie Walkie, Air achieves the perfect balance between song and soundtrack, perhaps creating the next French pop classic.