After Daft Punk, Air is probably the most internationally recognizable French group in electronic music to date. The duo consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel is back in France for a series of concerts after a successful tour in the States which included a performance at the legendary Greek Theater in L.A.

Air will perform in Paris November 19th at the Zenith before heading off on tour. At the heart of the tour is "Pocket Symphony," the band's recently released fourth album.  Introducing the sounds of the Koto and Shamisen (the Japanese equivalents of a harp and banjo) and with guest appearances from Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy) the album is overwhelmingly atmospheric and sparse. 

With four of twelve tracks completely instrumental the word ‘zen' easily springs to mind. An uncomplicated and harmonious sound seems both the method and the objective in Air's newly mellowed down simplicity.

During the three years since their last album "Talkie Walkie" Dunckel recorded a solo album "10,000HZ Legend." Also  the duo was part of the collaborative effort behind Charlotte Gainsbourg's album "5:55." 

Part of Air's international appeal comes from the accesibilty of their music and the fact that they sing in English.  Commenting on using English with their songs they told Raoul Hernandez of the The Austin Chronicle " In French, you have such traditional background, so many genius writers, so many poetic people, and so it is very hard to fight against the [artistic] background of France. So, we are doing some very nice poetry... we can do some poetic sentences, because grammatically our words are not correct... We are doing this out of a psychedelic sense."

To hear songs from the group and see video clips as well as a short film on the influences behind the new album check out http://www.myspace.com/intairnet  The site highlights the artwork and media elements created for "Pocket Symphony" by Xavier Veilhan, an artist who experiments with dimension and technology.  Ticket info http://www.fnac.fr