Air, Talkie Walkie
Since their last studio album, 2001's overblown ego trip that was '10,000 Hz Legend', French dance pop kingpins Air have clearly been hiding away in some sort of Parisian bunker, free from the fusses and feuds of the past couple of years. Their latest effort, entitled Talkie Walkie, apparently paying homage to the absence of spoken communication during the recording to sessions, shows none of the world weary anxiety of recent releases from, say, Radiohead and Blur.
Instead we are treated to a record of sugar coated pop joy that never allows itself to be too sweet to handle, as the lush and at times genuinely beautiful melodies are complemented by lyrics of loneliness and lost love. Jean-Benoit Dunckel performs the vocals exclusively himself and does a sterling job as anyone who have seen Air live would have expected. His voice is so breezy and sweet that one can even imagine members of Belle and Sebastian tripping him up in the playground and calling him a 'wussy girl'.
Yet the music is crafted perfectly for this tone. This is partly down to Radiohead and Beta Band producer Nigel Godrich, whose influence is most noticeable on the dark and brooding piano lines of opening track ‘Venus’.
Talkie Walkie might not make you jump around dancing, and it won't change your life, but it is perfect for conjuring up dreams of lakes and fields in the spring time, even when its raining outside, you have run out of money and have an essay to hand in at nine tomorrow morning. Brilliant!
Loading ...