Charlotte Gainsbourg
5:55

THE REVIEW

Those who are old enough will remember her with her father Serge in the (then) scandalous video of "Lemon Incest" or will not have forgotten her vaguely maudit lolita face on the cover of her first true album, "Charlotte Forever", in which she performed songs composed by her famous parent.

Twenty years after that musical debut, Charlotte Gainsbourg returns, after various cameos in others' works, with a new album, "5:55", accompanied this time by an exceptional cast: the French duo Air composing the music, Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy) and Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) writing the lyrics, and the celebrated Nigel Godrich (historic producer for Radiohead and REM, and more recently working with Beck) handling production.

On her part, the beautiful Charlotte adds, beyond her undeniable charm and that air of a transgressive yet finely charming character, a minimalist vocal interpretation, with singing often almost whispered and a voice that is all too delicate, undeniably reminiscent of her other famous parent, her mother Jane Birkin, which to the less accustomed, might recall Carla Bruni of "Quelqu'un m'a dit".

The Air, for their part, attempt to replicate the successful experiment of "The Virgin Suicide", with sophisticated and uneasy soundscapes with a vaguely ambient flavor. The attempt succeeds, to be honest, only in part and not infrequently the two indulge in self-referencing almost to the point of self-celebration. Piano parts composed of five-six notes repeated ad libitum on higher or lower scales, a predominantly neutral rhythmic section evenly spread throughout almost the entire album, string arrangements (and here you can feel Godrich's hand) sumptuous and constantly present, so much so that after a few tracks you get so used to it you almost forget they're there. Certain pieces certainly stand out from this leitmotif: "The Operation" attempts to introduce some dub elements into the rhythms, while "The Song that We Sing" sounds more cheerfully pop compared to the general seriousness of the album. But in the end, the prevailing sensation is of a work devoted in every particular detail to the cult of hi-fi, a kind of extra-luxury packaging in which each of the illustrious participants is afraid of appearing less "cultured" than the others.

Ultimately, "5:55" is certainly the right album to create atmosphere during the aperitifs you organize in your downtown attic or to relax during the frequent business class flights your stressful job forces upon you if you fit into these two categories. For everyone else, simply an album that will add a snobby touch to your collection, but that you'll struggle to take out of its case more than a couple of times.