French duo Air gave Hairdressers and Coffee Shop owners the world over a shock when they released their sophomore album '10,000HZ Legend' in 2001. Gone, for the most part, were the dreamy melodic hooks that made their debut release 'Moon Safari' such a delight in favour of darker beats and a moodier atmosphere that was guaranteed to make patrons choke on their soy lattis.

In order to stay afloat in the fickle world of Electronica, Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin ventured back to their earlier soundscapes to produce 'Talkie Walkie', an album that avoids the 'Xerox Moon Safari' tag by capturing a more complete sound, rather than being a collection of standout songs. In saying that, a few numbers off 'Talkie Walkie', such as 'Cherry Blossom Girl', will no doubt grace endless 'Chillout Compilations' for the next 18 months keeping said Coffee Shop patrons pleased whilst having their caffeine fix.

Instead of abandoning the sounds of their last album entirely, Air have harnessed that darker mood and fused it with the pop leanings they were known for on Moon Safari. A great example is 'Surfing On A Rocket', with its distorted drum beat keeping time for the breathy backing vocals of Lisa Papineau. The West Coast sound of 'Universal Traveler' could easily be confused for a Simon & Garfunkel rarity until you hear the mispronunciation of the word 'Universal' and you realise you're back in France circa 2004.

In fact apart from closer 'Alone In Kyoto' (Lifted from the Sofia Coppola film 'Lost In Translation'), the rest of the album could score the daily lives of Twentysomething Parisian's as they fall in and out of love. All the while sipping espressos in a Cafi in St. Germain Des Pres of course.

Without sounding like a complete twat, Air do what is necessary for a group with a sound such as theirs: they fill in the space around the listener without intruding. Third time around and they have picked up the ball they dropped on '10,000HZ Legend'. 'Talkie Walkie' does its job and sometimes that is all you need.