Air returns to North America, after over 3 years, with a tour starting April 21 in Vancouver.

Following their acclaimed album Talkie Walkie (2004) and a sold-out Hollywood Bowl performance with full orchestra later that year, Air returns with their new album Pocket Symphony released on March 6, 2007.

The line-up for the tour is as follows: JB Dunckel on keyboards and vocals; Nicolas Godin on guitar, bass, synths, and vocals; Vincent Taurelle on keyboards; Steve Jones on guitar; and Earl Harvin returning on the drums.

4/21 Vancouver, BC Richards On Richards
4/22 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
4/23 Tacoma, WA Pantages Theatre
4/25 San Francisco, CA Nob Hill Masonic Center
4/26 Las Vegas, NV The Joint
4/27 Phoenix, AZ The Marquee
4/29 Indio, CA Coachella Festival
5/02 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
5/04 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
5/05 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
5/06 Montreal, PQ Metropolis
5/08 Philadelphia, PA Theatre Of Living Arts
5/09 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
5/10 New York, NY Theatre at Madison Square Garden

Their new album is made up of 12 songs that were recorded over the last 18 months and produced by longtime collarorative partner Nigel Godrich, features vocals by Dunckel and Godin themselves but also from Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy).

While conventional instruments continue to play a great role, Air have fashioned several tracks from the new album with the unexpected addition of Far East classical instruments which Godin learnt to play from an Okinawa master – namely the koto (usually referred to as a Japanese floor harp) and the shamisen, a 3-stringed instrument which is one of Japan’s most popular classical instruments & resembles the banjo.

Working their way throughout the album as musical ricochets, these unearthly sounds of an alien nature add another motif to Air’s sonic architecture. Pocket Symphony shows a band very much on a forward path, smashing expectations while still delivering on their every promise.