Band: Charlotte Gainsbourg
Album: IRM
Sounds Like: PJ Harvey, Rilo Kiley, St. Vincent lite, Air
Sub Sub-genre: Eclectic French Indie Adult Contemporary
Essential Tracks: Trick Pony, In the End, IRM, Heaven Can Wait
DJ Sub Par Says:
Charlotte Gainsbourg almost died. The effect can be felt in many ways. The sounds of a MRI invade the song IRM, the french abbreviation for the same machine. In the duet with beck Heaven Can Wait she sings, "Heaven can Wait, hell is to far to go. Somewhere between what you need and what you know." Even in the cover art we can imagine her staring death in the face. Beck produces the album, composed the songs and wrote most of the lyrics. Yet, this isn't just beck arranging songs for a pop princess. This collaboration is two artists using each other. Beck brings his junk yard bag of tricks, but Charlotte gives these songs a warmth. Two artists huddled against the void.
DJ Responsible Says:
I have to admit that this album's unquestionable relevance took me as a bit of a surprise early this year. I must have missed 5:55 a few years back, I know little of her fairly consistent acting career, and I really only know her father Serge from his duet with this female orgasm, which I first caught wind of after reading a dirty anthem breakdown from The Onion A.V. Club. Have I merely been Gainsbourg ignorant over the years?
That said, the surprise was also decidedly pleasant. Charlotte's got the experimental tendencies of a PJ Harvey or a St. Vincent, but with slightly softened edges (with the exception of the aggressive "Greenwich Mean Time"). She knows when to let loose, from the soft-spoken ass kick of "Trick Pony" to the Beck-featured "Heaven Can Wait" to the blues-y "Dandelion," but she'll also reign the mood back in for a gorgeous and vulnerable ballad like "In the End" ("Treading so long I can't see where we've been/Tracks on the trail and nails digging in"). The album might've used a little more edge, given the thematic overtones, but IRM is definitely not a lifeless ride.
And because this video is surrealisticaly beautiful:
Charlotte Gainsbourg "Heaven Can Wait" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.
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