Air on a guitar string

Air step back in time for their second album

By BBC News Online's Nigel Packer

Air are clearly on a mission - to boldly go where no band has gone before....not for a few years anyway.

If their first album took us on a Moon Safari, the French duo's follow-up is nothing less than a full-blown star trek - a long and leisurely journey to the furthest corners of their universe.

We meet some weird and wonderful characters on the way - from love-struck androids to loopy space cowboy Beck - and the scenery is eerily spectacular.

But not since Pink Floyd were in their mid-70s pomp has a band sounded quite so show-stoppingly mellow, and in this day and age that takes some getting used to.

Darker and less immediate than its predecessor, 10,000 Hz Legend is an album which takes time to work its magic.

The sense of humour is still there with a slick pastiche of a 70s album cover

Electronic Performers is a suitably slow-burning opener. Scratchy guitars give way to the kind of sloshing keyboard sound which could induce seasickness, before things finally settle down with a soothing piano.

"We search new programmes for your pleasure," explain JB and Nicolas in cool, computerised tones - and they stay true to their word on all that follows.

The robotic vocals surface again on How Does It Make You Feel? - in direct contrast to the cascading 10cc-style harmonies which surround them, and it is this blending of man and machine which gives them their edge.

Beneath the glassy surface there is a tension at the heart of Air's sound, as opposites combine to unsettling effect.

Warm acoustic guitars brush against icy synths, heartfelt vocals are delivered by detached, inhuman voices - and each track sounds epic yet intimate at one and the same time.

The sense of humour is still there, too, from the lolloping futuristic glam of Radio #1 to the album sleeve itself - a slick pastiche of all those 70s album covers produced by the likes of Roger Dean (Yes) and the Hypgnosis design team (Floyd).

Wonder Milky Bitch is a sinister love song inspired by Serge Gainsbourg, and the laid-back People In The City succeeds in capturing the bustle of big city life without even breaking sweat.

Burst of energy

Indeed the only time the duo switch into warp-drive is for the fuzz-guitar tinged Don't Be Light - a startling burst of energy to interrupt the languid mood.

Beck's countrified contribution The Vagabond is another standout moment, although nothing can quite match the album's grandiose centrepiece, Radian.

With its opening vocal lament (imagine the theme from Gladiator with high-tech trimmings), twin-flute melody and flourishes of harp, it teeters on the edge of a Prog Rock precipice. But like the rest of the album, it actually works - somehow.

The fact that it does is a tribute to the skills of a duo who remain innovative, tongue-in-cheek and blessed with bags of Gallic cool.

Quite where they go from here is anyone's guess, although somehow you're left with the feeling that things can only get bigger.

If they haven't yet floated an inflatable pig above the Eiffel Tower, then surely it's only a matter of time.

10,000 Hz Legend (Source/Virgin) is released on 28 May