Air

Air

Pocket Symphony (Astralwerks)

A mood is in the Air. French duo Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel have always been adept at creating emotion out of sound, but with Air's fourth proper LP, remnants of pop have been set ablaze in favor of instrumentalist ploys and lullabies. Familiarity resounds in "Once Upon a Time" and "Napalm Love," both of which touch on that coy French attitude toward love, but the real surprises live in "One Hell of a Party," featuring Jarvis Cocker's haunting vocal track and a hypnotic Japanese koto, and "Mer du Japon," sung in Air's native tongue. Eastern influences resonate throughout, and piano strings the album along. The heart of Pocket Symphony is simplicity, like wind chimes echoing the breeze's sentiment. Air excels at cinematic soundtracking (Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation), a quality self-penned here as a meditative coo.