By Matt Kiernan
French-pop singer/songwriter and actress Charlotte Gainsbourg releases her third full-length album IRM, swaying between the languages of English and French to create songs that are sometimes decipherable, and at other times having meanings that are lost in translation.
Gainsbourg is an artist that relies on her quiet, whispering vocals, balanced with light guitar playing and electronics, to perform her pop songs. IRM was produced by the genre-bending artist Beck, with all songs being written by him except, “Le Chat Du Café Des Artistes.”
The album comes after Gainsbourg’s raised American movie notoriety in such films as 2007′s Bob Dylan art film I’m Not There and the 2008 horror flick Antichrist. The transition from France to America can be seen by looking at her 1986 debut-album Charlotte for Ever and her most recent release because of the difference in her writing all of her lyrics in French, to now mostly English.
The first single to be released on the album is the Beck and Gainsbourg duet, “Heaven Can Wait,” an easy-going guitar, piano and tambourine jam. Beck and Gainsbourg often overlay their vocals throughout the song’s verses and choruses.
The opening track, “Master’s Hands,” conveys Gainsbourg’s overall style by her whispering words with the plucked guitar notes of a cheap guitar and wooden drums.
The album’s title, IRM, is named after the sound a MRI scanner makes when operated, and is also used on the second track “IRM.” The track has a Pink Floyd style to it by the use of random instrument sounds and faded background calls.
“Le Chat Du Cafe’ Des Artistes” is a traditional French-pop song, taking a quiet tone underneath the eerie violins that fill the track. Beneath the singing and violins are distorted guitar grinding, similar to Beck’s style.
IRM is the peak of what Gainsbourg is capable of in writing music for different nationalities, and shows she’s catching the eyes of major music producers in America.
