Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55

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Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55

It got "interesting" reviews - like this one

What stops 5:55 being a well-meaning pastiche, what makes the album touching rather ghoulish, is the sheer quality of the songwriting. Charlotte Gainsbourg is, it seems, a difficult customer in front of the microphone - she apparently overcame her shyness by singing while hidden under a sheet - but her reticence seems to have forced everyone else involved to the top of their game. Exquisite melodies and heart-stopping choruses abound: there's a particularly thrilling example of the latter on the breathless Everything I Cannot See. As lyricists, Cocker and Hannon are on rare form as anyone who's heard the former's remarkable download single Running the World and A Lady of a Certain Age, the tear-jerking centrepiece of the recent Divine Comedy album, will attest. Accordingly, the best lyrics here are fascinating. The Operation pitches its medical metaphor just right: "Our love goes under the knife/ The heart was rejected by the host." AF607105 examines the ineffable melancholy of air travel, hardly a topic regularly touched on in rock.

It's a genuinely delightful album, but also a puzzling one. Given her discomfort in the studio and reticence regarding her father - she refuses to discuss him in public "for my own sake" - you have to wonder why on earth Charlotte Gainsbourg made the album. An acclaimed and successful actress, she hardly needs a new career. There is no talk of a follow-up. The reason for 5:55's existence remains a mystery, but it's hard not to feel glad it exists.

It's on my wish list still - waiting for a better price!

Seems to be very much in a French tradition. Anyone who is interested can find songs at My Space I actually preferred Guy Chambers/Sophie Hunter "Isis Project" (have a look here). Same kind of singing style though.

Steve

This is one of those records that you can cast aside as shallow on first listening. Repeated exposure shows far greater depths.

I like it.

Nigel

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Originally posted by SteveGa:
...As lyricists, Cocker and Hannon are on rare form as anyone who's heard the former's remarkable download single Running the World and A Lady of a Certain Age, the tear-jerking centrepiece of the recent Divine Comedy album, will attest... Steve

I heard Divine Comedy's A Lady of a Certain Age on a recent Word cover disc. As you say, wonderful lyrics and I now have this down on my "must buy" list.