Pocket Symphony

Pocket Symphony
Studio album by
Released5 March 2007 (2007-03-05)
Studio
  • Revolvair (Paris)
  • Gang (Paris)
Length47:47
LabelVirgin
Producer
Air chronology
Talkie Walkie
(2004)
Pocket Symphony
(2007)
Love 2
(2009)
Singles from Pocket Symphony
  1. "Once Upon a Time"
    Released: 29 January 2007
  2. "Mer du Japon"
    Released: 11 June 2007
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic63/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
The A.V. ClubA−
Entertainment WeeklyC+
The Guardian
The Irish Times
Mojo
NME2/10
Pitchfork6.6/10
Spin
Uncut

Pocket Symphony is the fourth studio album by French electronic music duo Air, released on 5 March 2007 by Virgin Records. It features collaborations with Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon. Pocket Symphony incorporates some of the Japanese instruments Godin had recently learned to play from an Okinawan master musician: the koto (also referred to as a Japanese floor harp) and the three-string, banjo-like shamisen. However, a press release claims that "conventional instruments continue to play a great role" in the duo's music. The album features art by Xavier Veilhan.

Pocket Symphony debuted at number 40 on the US Billboard 200, with 17,000 copies sold in its first week. As of February 2012, it had sold 77,000 copies in the United States.

The term "pocket symphony" was popularised by English journalist Derek Taylor, who used it to describe the Beach Boys' 1966 single "Good Vibrations".