Air - Pocket Symphony (Virgin)
3/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Air are very comfortable with what they are, and this is clear right from the start of 'Pocket Symphony'. 'Space Maker' is the Platonic form of an Air album opener, huge washes of sound so light they're almost not there, oddly comforting electronic beeping, a further example of how good the duo are at creating these things known as 'soundscapes'. But so what, you might think. Why should I care?
If you're of that mindset, honestly, it'll be difficult for this LP to convince you otherwise. Air aren't bothered with you. They're bothered with the people who want a bit more of what they've had from every other Air record, people who class them as dance music even though this isn't anything you can dance to, in the same way people refer to Massive Attack or Lamb as being dance but still music you'd never throw shapes to in a club. Air are of a kind, and they're happy that way. It's really no use moaning.
The single 'Once Upon A Time' is the first point at which you really should pay attention. A bone fide Air classic, it conjures up all kinds of magical, mystical imagery, taking the fAIRy tail sentiment of the lyrics and injecting it in to the music, culminating in a very woozy feeling. And it's a good thing they can concoct such fantastical imagery purely with sound, as it remains the case that Air ain't the best lyricists. 'Napalm Love' for example has a charm which comes purely and thankfully strongly from the music, despite the lyrics being relative cack - "I'm hitting the ground, it's hurting me, hurting me..." for example is a line delivered with no pain or passion whatsoever. It's all too calm to work as a sentiment, but the creepy atmosphere to it allows the song to succeed.
The best prose is delivered by two of Britain's finest dandies - Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy. Yet oddly, they rope in such artists and don't seem to particularly push them. Jarvis' contribution might be lovely and sleazy, but this is always what Jarvis does. It could have been on his self titled solo debut - what with all the synthesised drums, it really does sound like someone having a go at creating a solo record, not a collaborative piece. Saying that, he alludes to sleaze here perhaps better than he has since 'Live Bed Show'.
Neither it nor Neil Hannon's appearance are in the realms of great indie / dance (though they're not dance, we know) crossovers like Noel Gallagher's work with the Chemical Brothers however. On Neil's track, he even sounds a little bit like he's trying to sing like Air want him to sing, rather than delivering something of his own. They remove all the fun from his voice, creating a sound which is like The Divine Comedy devoid of any knowing grin. Yet you know who's singing it, so you sit there waiting for a punchline which never arrives.
There's no 'Sexy Boy' or 'Kelly Watch The Stars' here. Nothing's fun. Everything's very uncomfortable, really, but that's a difficult feeling for a record to create. It doesn't happen by accident. Yes, bits of it sound like the soundtrack to wallpaper adverts, but other sections are far more subtle - 'Photograph' for example sounds like the cold I currently have feels. There's something very feverish about the whole thing really, a bit sleepy. I fancy a bit of a sleepy.
'Pocket Symphony' is far denser and grander than its meagre title suggests. You can't really make anything out for the haze that sits atop each track. 'Left Bank' showcases this best, a track which perhaps might have suited Hannon better than 'Somewhere Between Waking And Sleeping'. It's gorgeously soft, yet very strong with it. What Air do best, really.
Criticisms about it drifting by inoffensively tend to be met with the answer 'well, it is Air - what did you expect?'. It's a funny defence, but a fitting one - asking them to do anything else would be very, very strange. But maybe at this point in their careers, something else is what they should be searching for? Regardless, to pine for that feels somewhat useless, so we shan't bother. Much as we want to.
Disappointingly, with 'Night Sight', the record ends on a whimper. It's because there are too many moments a bit like this, a bit like a discontented sigh, that it doesn't get the fourth star it might otherwise have earned. At forty eight minutes only, it really does feel longer than it is. But it really can alter one's mood, and only something created with the utmost care, intelligence and precision can do that. It might be all they do, but my, they do it well.
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