Choosing once again to team herself up with the highest pedigree production collaborator she can find, Charlotte Gainsbourg continues to make elegantly classy music with album number three, IRM. Following the Nigel Godrich produced 5:55 from 2006, a record which boasted contributions from the likes of Air and Jarvis Cocker, IRM sees Gainsbourg hooking up with Beck, the singer/songwriter handling production duties alongside composing, recording and co-writing the lyrics. It's certainly a bold move, though perhaps one that makes IRM feel more like a Beck record featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg than the other way round; this very much an album that boasts his musical fingerprints throughout, almost a companion piece to his latest, MODERN GUILT from 2008, all lush orchestration and deep bass rumbles.
For all the elegance, atmosphere and classy production style, IRM does however feel a little lacking in heart and soul, a collection of songs that impress with their cleverness and arch attitude but rarely offer much in the way of warmth; songs to admire rather than to love. The likes of MASTER HANDS, IRM and LE CHAT DU CAFE DES ARTISTES are extremely cool and studied, Gainsbourg delivering half whispered croons over lushly orchestrated soundtracks to effective results. There's just something of a wisp of style over substance at play here though, these are hardly tunes you'll find yourself humming once they're finished, whilst you'll find yourself enveloped in their ice cool atmospherics at the time, the aftertaste proves a little too underwhelming and insubstantial.
IN THE END offers a more folk based experience, gentle acoustic guitars running beneath Gainsbourg's pretty vocals whilst previous single HEAVEN CAN WAIT finds Beck duetting on a decent sounding pop tune. One of the records finer moments is ME AND JANE DOE, a pretty pop tune that lives up to the promise of the Gainsbourg/Beck collaboration for arguably the first time, quirky production flourishes and odd sound effects marrying the avant garde to pure pop. Other highlights on offer include the distorted bass ridden TRICK PONY and the off kilter pop of GREENWICH MEAN TIME, a song that bares comparison to the likes of MIA or Santogold.
It's unfortunate that amidst these gems, the likes of TIME OF THE ASSASSINS and VANITIES conspire to dull the whole experience, songs that feel far too uninspired and devoid of spark, the Gainsbourg/Beck collaboration succumbing to the whole style over substance criticism once again, dragging IRM into frankly boring sounding territory.
Saving the best until the end though, the double whammy of VOYAGE and THE COLLECTOR prove that IRM is a record that certainly does have it's moments of genuine brilliance; VOYAGE a French sung pop tune backed by tribal drum patterns, gorgeous orchestral flourishes and odd sound effects is certainly one of the records stand out moments whilst THE COLLECTOR ends things on a delicate but mesmerising high, Gainsbourg crooning elegantly over haunting piano chords and Beck's odd but effecting backing vocals.
Whilst certainly patchy in places and disjointed as a whole, IRM is still an album that boasts a handful of genuinely inspired moments, the Beck production is definitely front and centre throughout IRM, this feeling very much like a Beck record featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg. Not a perfect record by any means, but certainly an interesting and intriguing one, IRM has enough to recommend it, just not enough to make you love it.
