Charlotte Gainsbourg
5:55

THE REVIEW

CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES: TEARS AND BLOOD

Twenty years after her previous work "Charlotte Forever", born from the brilliant mind of Serge Gainsbourg during a period of schizophrenic creativity, Charlotte Gainsbourg is back for an encore. After all, even Peter Gabriel took ten years to release the follow-up to "Us". During the time between the first and the second album, Charlotte has undergone a transformation: she has become a woman, an actress. Stunning in her slender and elegant silhouette, with a face reminiscent of a more feminine and sensual Patti Smith, Charlotte has everything it takes to become a sex symbol.

And here, in this new chapter of her discography, Gainsbourg improvises as a classy French chanteuse, accompanied by a host of illustrious and starry guests (Nigel Goldrich, Air, Jarvis Cocker). The anticipation was fierce and full of charm. That mysterious object called "5:55" kept catching my attention since its release, but only a few days ago did I buy it blindly, mainly attracted by a very sensual cover and a bargain price. Worst case scenario...

The initial atmosphere is already misleading: those two black sheep "5:55" and "AF605107" at the beginning, placed one after the other, are odd because they sound like carbon copies of Air. There's not the slightest arrangement or sound passage that could make you say "Ah, Well! This is Charlotte Gainsbourg! You can tell right away!". They're not bad but get tiring, with their lunar landscapes, dreamy and floating melodies, and piano just for seasoning. Her delicate voice floats like the niece of Carla Bruni, but much more in tune and at ease.

When you think the album might take off towards different arrangements, you're wrong: "The Operator" is yet another electro-dreamy parade by the French electronic duo. Charlotte loves to meow so much. She caresses, fascinates, seduces, but does not let go, does not dare, does not free herself.
The only moment of phosphorus is provided by the stunning "The Song That We Sing", a beautiful and simple ballad between acoustic and glitch electronics. The poetic lyrics almost bring tears (you must read the remarkable ode to the beauty mark in "Beauty Mark"), but the melodies are so repetitive and anonymous they almost bring a smile.

"5.55" flows light and caressing, only moved by a few rhythmic accelerations... I fall asleep, only to be awakened at the end by two truly sensual, but also original pieces like "Everything I cannot see", with the piano in the foreground and "Morning Song", the only song entirely written by the beautiful Gainsbourg.

Caressing, passionate, heart-wrenching but also repetitive and anonymous: what's left is the cover to put on display on my bedroom's record shelf.
And I expected a new "Lemon Incest"...