Rather than be shackled by the moody (and Moog-y) astro-lounge sounds that defined Moon Safari, Air's 1998 debut, the French pop duo has charted a scattered course in the years since, fueled by a need to move before being pegged by particular style or genre. Air's latest, Talkie Walkie, zigs closer to classic pop following the dark, moody electronic zags found on the group's 2000 soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and their last release 2001's 10,000 Hz Legend.

Though Air's Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin have hardly unplugged their farm of electronic keys on Talkie, the album, which features production and mixing by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck), is their most spacious recording to date. Amid the trademark Moogs and Rhodes keys, Talkie Walkie boasts bountiful organic flourishes in the form of acoustic pianos and guitars, as well as the occasional banjo or church bell. Achieving that marriage of acoustic and electric was part of the rationale for working with Godrich. "We thought the electronic music had gotten boring and impersonal," Godin says, "so we wanted to stay with the way we play and contrast it, but very subtly."

Dunckel and Godin also stepped up to the microphone for the first time, rather than inviting a gaggle of guests to dictate the vocal flavor of the record. The new approach is announced immediately on the album's opening track "Venus," with its whispery vocals, and a bold piano vamp that pushes the song forward.

"The vocal guest is very cliche now," Godin says. "It's old and boring. We wanted some of the freedom of a traditional band. Nigel said the weakness of our vocals is the power of the album. That we're not proficient singers makes it sound fresh, it's like the voice is more original."

If the sonic shift seems startling, it's likely due to Moon Safari's being embraced by (and pegged as) electronic music culture, despite the fact that it too was a pop album at heart. Godin and Dunckel's musical foundation was built on a laptop. The former's first record was The Beatles for Sale, the latter's was David Bowie's Let's Dance. Like both of those classic acts, Air are sonic scavengers looking for new ways to dress up their hearty melodies.

Some of the new sounds on Walkie are the result of that need to hunt and gather. The piano featured on "Venus" and "Mike Mills" sat in the corner of the studio where Air recorded 10,000 Hz. When the studio went bankrupt, Godin snatched it up at a discount. And one of the album's best hooks is found on "Alpha Beta Gaga," a bouncing cut with an irresistible whistled chorus and the aforementioned banjo. "Sometimes in the studio you just get fed up and try something different," Godin says. "The banjo, the whistling, it's just a way of doing that. We found the banjo across the street from the studio with these horrible instruments from Taiwan. It was very cheap, but you'd have to tune it frequently."

Lest all of Talkie Walkie seem made from wood and wire, Air's marriage of old and new, organic and electronic, is what makes the record their most intriguing and multi-faceted. "Run" is spacey and full of synth with Dunckel's vocal processed into a robotic mutter. "We wanted to do something spooky and interesting at the center of the album," Dunckel says. And that's a main idea of our music. We like to make people travel. We like to help people get away and disappear into another time and place."

As for the next trip that Air will provide, there's a spring tour of the U.S. in April. And what follows is anybody's guess. "We change a lot for two reasons," Dunckel says. "The first one is for us. It's interesting for us because we go somewhere else and find new ideas. It makes our work like an adventure. Second, people are really curious and they don't like when there are no surprises. When you're shocked by music, it's good, it shows you like it in some way. When you feel nothing, the music is bad."

Air's success has provided the freedom to pursue such fringe projects as last year's City Reading, where they put live music to a reading by Italian author Alessandro Baricco. "We went to Italy and had a nice rest, we ate gelato and played in a 500 year-old theater," Godin says. "So it isn't always about selling records. We're blessed by not allowing expectations. Though one day we might do the exact same kind of album as before. And that will be the big surprise."

Air tour dates:

4/2: Austin, Austin Music Hall
4/3: Dallas, Nextstage
4/5: New Orleans, Twiropa
4/6: Atlanta, Earthlink Live
4/8-9: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
4/10: Philadelphia, Electric Factory
4/12: Boston, Avalon
4/13: New York, Hammerstein Ballroom
4/16: Montreal, Metropolis
4/17: Toronto, Kool Haus
4/18: Pontiac, MI, Clutch Cargo
4/20: Chicago, Riviera
4/21: Minneapolis, State Theater
4/22: Milwaukee, The Rave
4/24: Englewood, CO, Gothic
4/27: Portland, OR, Crystal Ballroom
4/28: Vancouver, Orpheum
4/29: Seattle, Paramount Theater
5/1: Phoenix, Marquee Theater
5/2: Indio, CA, Coachella Festival
5/3: Oakland, Paramount

ANDREW DANSBY
(February 13, 2004)