Air
Talkie Walkie
On Sale Now
For $14.48

I may be alone in the fact that I am still waiting for Air to make a half-way decent follow-up to their debut masterpiece, Moon Safari. Critics have constantly praised them since being taken aback by that particular record that they still continue to worship at the altar of Air. Personally, I don’t get it. Clearly they are talented, fully operational musicians with great intuition for offbeat melody and cool chord sequencing. But it’s all about gimmick and computed devices, and not about genuine sentiment. Even their lyrics serve as backdrop with their singing left to waver in and out of focus. As their latest record, Talkie Walkie progressed, I found myself more and more estranged as it played out.

Vocally, they sound as light as a quill, which is all the more disorienting and distracting. Instead of adding something to the music, it takes away from the ambiance. There is only so much you can take of half-baked, computerized vocals before they too come across as far too programmed and contrived. They don’t let the music take control of them, but they are masters of taking control of their music. It all depends on if you want to go along with what they do. They have coined a familiar soundscape, much like Moby, occasionally contributing to films and commercials. At times, they have completely outdone themselves, such as the invitingly corporeal soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola debut, The Virgin Suicides. With that particular enterprise, they incorporated their trademark style with real instruments. They stood in front of the piano and sat at a live drum kit instead of letting the synthesizers and MIDI run the show. I could only wish that they had similar accomplishments here.

Between this and their horrendous last effort, 10,000 Hz Legend, Air keep pigeonholing themselves into a corner. The more “out there” they try to be, the more they fail at creating an inviting atmosphere or sensual mood like they did on Moon Safari. Here, they rely on repetitive vocal licks and unconvincing key changes that make a song like “Surfing on a Rocket” grating and unenticing as opposed to leaving you awe-struck. Air is still capable of graceful beauty which is all-pervading on the first three tracks. “Venus” is affectionate, old-school Air that manages to incite instantaneous warmth out from the speakers into your ears. “Cherry Blossom Girl” could easily be an ode to gorgeous wonder Scarlet Johansen, with a folkie Japanese Moog sound that is eerie and sexy at the same time. But it all goes downhill mid-way after track five.

Despite the fact that Talkie Walkie is less about jumping genres than the grating, unapproachable 10,000 Hz Legend, it still feels incomplete and inconsistent with the best work of Air’s career. Even their EPs seemed to spark some kind of significance instead of plain old boring indifference. Only the first few tracks really capture the magic of Moon Safari. With a song like “Alpha Beta Gaga,” the swirly, squiggly keyboards flutter in and out of the stereo until it all languidly bleeds together. It comes across as more of a knockoff than a genuine song. Air do what they do very well, with both ease and cordiality but on the basis of their earlier work, they can clearly do a lot better than what they’ve given us here with their lazy latest. Still if you need music to accompany paranoia or detachment, then this could be the soundtrack for your long, hard days at the office.

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