Charlotte Gainsbourg IRM (Because Music). Released 25 January 2010I have to say that Charlotte’s last album 5.55 didn’t impress me, although it sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. I think the main problem was her collaboration with several artists including Air, Jarvis Cocker and Nigel Godrich - the album just didn’t gel. This new one is different in that Charlotte has worked exclusively with Beck on writing and production, and it’s made a massive difference.

The album’s title, IRM (magnetic resonance imaging - the French name for the MRI scanner), refers to the method doctors use to see inside the body and harks back to 2007 when she suffered a brain haemorrhage after a waterskiing accident, followed by an operation and repeated scans. “You nourish the work with whatever you’ve been through,” she acknowledges. “The sound of the MRI scanner stuck with me. When Beck and I talked about how I wanted the music to sound, I played him the sound of the scanner - I found it on the Internet - and said I wanted to incorporate it. I’ll never forget that sound.”

During her six months convalescence, Charlotte began thinking about making a follow-up to 5.55. Naturally, the accident and its aftermarth loomed large. But she wanted “to get on a different track, to go in a new direction.” Recalling meeting Beck at a White Stripes show, she got in touch to see whether he would be interested in working with her, and he agreed. Sessions began in LA in Spring 2008 at Beck’s home studio. For his first full album for another artist, Beck composed new material. He also had a few already-written songs in mind.But as he began feeling and understanding what Charlotte wanted, everything was reshaped. Charlotte would give Beck fragmentary lines, which he transformed into finished lyrics. She noticed it was “like how my father (Serge Gainsbourg) worked; he took all these pieces and created something amazing.”

Overall, there were three main sessions, each separated by Charlotte’s filming schedule. The first was Lars von Trier’s ANTICHRIST, followed by Patrice Chereau’s PERSECUTION which was filmed in Australia. Returning to LA and Beck after completing ANTICHRIST, Charlotte found she was colouring the music with her mood. “Each session was stopped by a film I had to do,” she confirms. “Each film is an experience you take from, like baggage you carry. I pent three weeks in LA recording after the Lars von Trier shoot. I was quite moody. I described to Beck what I’d gone through, the whole story. Although I didn’t feel the film had tainted me in a dark way, it had given me a fragility. Beck always made the effort to take it somewhere else. After that I made PERSECUTION, a much more ‘normal’ film!”

IRM sounds complete, like a finished jigsaw, with an emotional ambience that’s compelling. It’s also Charlotte’s best work by a country mile and both Charlotte and Beck have to be congratulated for creating a record that will doubtless figure strongly in our 2010 albums of the year list. Opener ‘Me & Jane Doe & Rousseau’ is a perky, childlike song with a catchy melody, swooning backing vocals and simple instrumental backdrop. It sounds like the feeling children get before going on a foreign holiday; the excitement and anticipation at a new adventure.

‘Looking Glass Blues’ begins to change tone; it’s darker, jagged and beats driven. ‘Trick Pony’ is dominated by a huge, persistant and very dark percussive rhythm with vocals flashing in and out, and driven by another strong melody. Next ‘Cafe Des Artistes’ where apocalyptic druma are replaced by hammered keyboard notes. Charlotte’s French vocal is distinctive and quite beautiful, while orchestral strings add major drama to one of the record’s standout tracks.

‘Voyage’ rattles along like a train with a hint of the East never far away. It’s sung in French with flashing string passages and another powerful percussive backdrop. It’s epic, original and distinctive. ‘IRM’ has a punky ambience as drums beat out a threatening rhythmic beat as Charlotte describes her MRI experience. It’s an extraordinary and powerful song - quite exceptional. ‘In The End’ is a beautiful acoustic ballad while the first single off the record, ‘Heaven Can Wait’, is a beats-driven pop song which I can imagine featuring in many dance clubs. ‘Time Of The Assasins’ reverts to acoustic simplicity, a contemplative style, fragile vocal and all driven by a superb melody. The fabulous, gently rolling ‘La Collectionneuse’ is the  final song on my unmastered promo copy, however, the finished album includes another three songs. The song has a fantastic closing segment with spoken words and building keyboard notes producing one of the most dramatic endings I’ve ever heard.

This is a special record and in my view one of Beck’s finest moments. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with darkness and light in equal measure, and the most magical orchestrations. It’s also brought out the best of Charlotte Gainsbourg, and, while it may not provide the instant thrills of 5.55, it is vastly superior in every way. With this record, Charlotte has finally arrived at a worthwhile and important musical destination. Essential.

4.5/5