Eamon Blog

Today's Shelf Pull: AIR, Talkie Walkie

The Room Learns To Glide

AIR's Talkie Walkie is a calm Electronic LP with pop shape, soft-focus detail and enough late-night lift to make the shop feel a little wider.

There are records that arrive waving both arms, and there are records that simply improve the air pressure in the room. AIR's Talkie Walkie belongs to the second sort. It does not need to kick the door open. It comes in, checks the light, finds a chair by the window and somehow makes everyone else lower their voice in a useful way.

The catalogue has it filed as Electronic, with downtempo, French electronic, electronica, chillout, indietronica and dream pop sitting around it like decent neighbours. That is a fair little district. Talkie Walkie is electronic music with manners, but not the kind that disappears into politeness. The songs have shape. The surfaces glow. The room gets bigger without anyone moving the furniture.

AIR are in pure glide mode here, and the Kilmorna notes put it neatly: elegant melodies, soft-focus electronics and a French sense of space. That phrase matters because space is not emptiness on this album. It is design. The percussion stays crisp but gentle. The synths are satin rather than chrome. The bass is warm enough to be useful, never so heavy that it starts leaning on the listener.

The sleeve does its job before the needle even has a chance. Pale background, scribbled formulas, two figures looking away from the obvious centre of attention, and the title written as if someone had just found the right note on a scrap of paper. It looks thoughtful without being solemn. That is a difficult balance, especially for a record this smooth.

On the shelf today

AIR - Talkie Walkie

LP / Electronic / 2015

EUR27.95 / Available now

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