Charlotte Ginsburg does not have a voice like Whitney Houston, or Kelly Clarkson, or whomever you would like to consider a great female vocalist. What she does have is that certain “je ne sais quoi” that the French like to reference.
Her voice is whimsical with just a touch of an accent – both making her subtlety charming. While somewhat non-descript, she is still in many ways interesting and worth listing to. Gainsbourg brings a diverse mix of sounds on this album – everything from a singer-songwriter acoustic to the dance-happy Beck sound we’ve come to know so well.
“Terrible Angles” is grimey, doped-up goodness. Gainsbourg’s opening vocals have a tone reminiscent of Bjork- it lasts for just a moment before a dazed, soft, almost pleading voice emerges. And it’s hot. “Paradisco” also bumps in only the way Beck can do it.
While these two tracks could have been a great addition to the full IRM album, “White Telephone” doesn’t bring much to the table. It has the least direction of all the tracks and comes off sounding like a parody of a new-agey Enya like song. Instead of the dreamy delivery that makes Gainsbourg pleasant, she sounds more whiney on this one.
Gainsbourg’s collaboration with New Zealand artist Connan Mockasin on “Anna” is a beautiful, synthy track. Slightly generic, it is still a nice listen and the two complement in each other. Gainsbourg sounds as though she is having fun singing.
“Out of Touch” is like an underwater Bee Gees song. And I mean that in a great, awesome, MGMT eat your heart out kind of way. Psychedelic and sexy, it is a dreamy little trip of a song.
The second half of the album is a live recording. Unless you are an enormous Charlotte Gainsbourg fan, this is an unnecessary listen. She is decent enough – but there is nothing about this recording that makes it extraordinary from the last. The band is tight, and she sexily speak-sings through the set – but she almost sounds drowned out; like she’s maybe just auditioning to sing with them.
Gainsbourg delivers some quality records on this – but falls flat on others. The standout tracks are worth being added to your music library… but I wouldn’t rush out to get the whole thing.
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