Listen: IRM by Charlotte Gainsbourg
The acting of Charlotte Gainsbourg was only made known to me after watching The Science of Sleep in 2007. (Kate tells me that I saw her in an earlier role when we watched Jane Eyre but I really cannot remember doing so…and it would have come after, regardless.) While I find her acting compelling, I really had no compulsion to explore her musical career.
Which was – as my decisions sometimes are – a mistake.
To paraphrase Wired‘s brief review of the newest album, Gainsbourg is essentially the singing equivalent of tofu: she takes on the sonic qualities of the collaborator with whom she’s working.
On IRM, Charlotte has partnered with Beck, who served as producer, musician and vocalist. Happily, she doesn’t just sound like a female singer channeling Beck, though. Instead, Gainsbourg absorbs all of what makes Beck spectacular, kooky and somewhat foreboding and then effortlessly pours it out again with her own (decidedly French) style.
So what’s to like on this recording? Let’s start with the single, “Heaven Can Wait” and its delectable, disturbing video:
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.
My other favorites:
- “Le chat du café des artistes” (the strings!)
- “Trick Pony“
- “Greenwich Mean Time“
(I apologize if these videos vanish – her record label, Because Music, seems to be throwing a bit of a fit.)
Update: How I missed this fact is beyond me, but the album name IRM actually comes from MRI, a machine that Charlotte Gainsbourg spent much time in after having a cerebral hemorrhage. She thought the sounds of the MRI would “make a great music.” I had the exact same thought after being scanned myself two summers ago.