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Rating: The Air have written the history of French music worldwide in the last ten years, thanks in part to the success of the beautiful "Moon Safari", an album full of relaxing sounds suitable for more "intimate" moments.
With some subsequent productions, however, they lost a bit of freshness ["10,000 Hertz Legend" (2001) and indulged in composing more commercial, yet high-quality pieces ("Talkie Walkie" (2004)], where new sounds were nevertheless heard needing improvement.
With their eighth album in ten years, the group seeks to perfect their music, releasing a CD with twelve tracks to be listened to in special moments, especially when one wants to rest while listening to dreamy music. All the songs keep the listener relaxed and the seven-minute tracks that could bore are gone, replaced by short and good compositional trials.
Naming the best pieces is unnecessary as they are all on the same level, however, it should be noted that there are some novelties in Air's music. Indeed, the Parisian duo has introduced for the first time musical instruments from Japan, also creating compositions that evoke the sounds typical of the Land of the Rising Sun, as had already happened in "Alone In Kyoto", the best piece extracted from the previous LP.
It should be noted the presence of the voice on two tracks ("One Hell Of A Party" and "Somewhere Between Walking And Sleeping") where the band features Jarvis Cocker, the Pulp singer, as in the previous "Talkie Walkie" the vocal performance of the French was not very good.
"Pocket Symphony" is preceded by the single "Once Upon A Time", a track that fully describes what can be found within the new album by the Parisian group.
This is an attempt to return to the roots, and if this is the starting point, they are not doing badly as other bands that carry on for years with the same intent.
Suitable for those who have always liked Air, and for those who have not yet listened to them, it would be a good starting point.
Tracklist:
Space maker
Once upon a time
Hell of a party
Napalm love
Mayfair song
Left bank
Photograph
Mer du Japon
Lost message
Somewhere between walking and sleeping
Redhead girl
Night sight
Rating: 3.5/5
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Once Upon a Time (05:02)
No time before it's too soon
No time after it's too late
Time's getting old, time's over now
Don't try to be on time
Don't try to run after time
Time's getting on, time's over now
I'm a little boy, you're a little girl
Once upon a time
I'm a little boy, you're a little girl
Once upon a time
Time's getting on, time's over now
I'm a little boy, you're a little girl
Once upon a time
I'm a little boy, you're a little girl
Once upon a time
Time's getting on, time's over now
I'm a little boy, you're a little girl
Once upon a time
I'm a little boy, you're a little girl
Once upon a time
Time's getting on, time's over now
I'm a little boy, you're a little girl
Once upon a time
I'm a little boy, you're a little girl
Once upon a time
Time's getting on, time's over now
06 Left Bank (04:07)
Left Bank
Left bank, I'm waiting for someone
Someone to be my friend
Outside, traffic's running slowly
I hear it from my window
Without you, I'm getting lost
Without you, there's no release
I can't hold the sun
I can't hold the sun
It's raining, love is not around me
How can it get so cold?
Homesick, this is how I feel now
This is how you left me
Without you, I'm getting lost
Without you, there's no release
I can't hold the sun
I can't hold the sun
Without you, I'm getting lost
Without you, there's no release
I can't hold the sun
I can't hold the sun
07 Photograph (03:51)
I would like to own your photograph
The angels cry to have your photograph
As if you were awfully made for life
As fortune favor fools like candle light
I would like to own your autograph
The angels fight to own your photograph
But you reckon on the photograph
Look at you provision on the night
08 Mer du Japon (03:04)
J'en perds la raison
Dans la mer du Japon
J'en perds la raison
Dans la mer du Japon
10 Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping (03:35)
Without blindness, there is no sight
You'd see further if you'd only close your eyes
In unconsciousness I can find peace
Inside prison walls I can find release
There is a place that I have seen
Somewhere between waking and sleeping
Down at the water's edge
Somebody waits for me
Is it too late for me
It's never too late, he says
[Left Channel]
Without blindness, there is no sight
You'd see further if you'd close your eyes
Unblock the failure
[Right Channel]
Without blindness, there is failure
People gather by the river
They were talking
There is a place that I have seen
Somewhere between waking and sleeping
Leaning over the side
Trailing my fingertips
Feeling the water slip
Into the quiet night
Viewed from the wrong end of a telescope
I see myself, so far below
Still and silent, rest in peace
The thread unravels
Merciful release
There is a place that I have seen
Somewhere between waking and sleeping
Now I can almost see
Figures upon the shore
He's gathering in the oars
Where are you taking me
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Other reviews
By Adil
The Air of nine years ago are now just a faded memory.
The single Once Upon A Time is a typical calling card of Air: a piano supporting the entire structure, a drum machine as discreet as it is bland, a lyric that calling it naif is doing it a favor.
By Lesto BANG
N O T H I N G. Banal music.
Ok AIR, you joked and I took the bait like a fool.
By Ilpazzo
Pocket Symphony is a small POCKET MASTERPIECE!
The absolute masterpiece of the album is 'ReadHead Girl' — pure melancholic beauty that hypnotizes delicately like the song of sirens.
