Ode to the Whirring Eye

Until now, Charlotte Gainsbourg’s career has been sandwiched by two intriguing yet creepy performances. She entered the music world at thirteen singing on “Lemon Incest” for her father, the freaky French genius Serge Gainsbourg. Last summer, the actress/singer got medieval on some private parts in Lars Von Trier’s controversial Antichrist (earning a Best Actress award at Cannes in the process). Her third album, IRM, features no less heady material—ruminations on life and death following her severe brain trauma.

After a water skiing accident delivered a life-threatening head injury, Ms. Gainsbourg became familiar with the many whirs and buzzes of the IRM scanner (French for “MRI”). Duly spurred to action, she enlisted Beck to provide direction for one of her most fully realized outings. The title track (below) stands out as the scanner’s hum joins a rollicking beat, and Gainsbourg probes the machine’s power. Beck’s tomcat growl effectively fills out her samba-like whispers on the familiar romp of “Heaven Can Wait”  (below), but he wisely restrains from casting a large shadow on the project.

On the best tracks, Beck employs Gainsbourg like a medium similar to Stevie Wonder with Syreeta. Other times, her voice is a gauzy layer on dreamy orchestral swirls (check “Le Chat Du Cafe Des Artistes”). These tunes, not initially enthralling, reveal their layers with repeated listens. Though at times reminiscent of Thievery Corporation without the exotica angle, Gainsbourg’s music is certainly as good as anything Scarlett Johansen has recorded.

Charlotte Gainsbourg performs at Coachella on April 18th.

Parlez-vous francais? Then check out the new movie about Serge, Gainsbourg: Heroic Life, in theaters now.

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