Search - Charlotte Gainsbourg :: 5:55

The Divine Pulp Air Songs That We Sing

Richard Hine | 05/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Teaming up with the people who brought you The Divine Comedy, Pulp and Air, Charlotte Gainsbourg delivers a shimmery collection of songs, whispered confessions and savage observations. The chimy instrumentation surrounds and enhances Gainsbourg's breathy vocals, which are sung/spoken in her delightfully "Frenglish" accent. Title track "5:55" captures that sleepless time when it's "too late to end it now, too early to start again." Bouncy single "The Songs That We Sing" sounds cheerful, but it still makes little girls "scream and run away." The "Little Monsters" who "rule the world" are scary enough (they get even bigger and scarier on Jarvis's own "Fat Children"). The theme of staying up all night returns in several places, most notably when love goes under the knife in "The Operation." It's a delicate procedure, but Gainsbourg's "prepared to work throughout the night." This is easy listening with a sharp edge."