IRM (Version deluxe)

iTunes Review

The eerily seductive sounds heard on Charlotte Gainsbourg’s third album IRM take inspiration from the MRI scans the actress/singer underwent after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in 2007. The throbbing rhythms and vaguely ominous lyrics heard in these tracks create a dream-like atmosphere at once enticing and disquieting. Gainsbourg’s sensuously wispy vocals are given vivid, sometimes startling backdrops by producer Beck, who blends colors from ‘60s baroque rock with contemporary electronic grooves. Clattering drums lend primal ferocity to such dark meditations as “Heaven Can Wait” and the title number. More billowy in feel are “Me and Jane Doe” (a lovely aural travelogue) and “Time of the Assassins” (genteel with its loosely-draped strings and folk guitar). On “Dandelion,” Gainsbourg coos erotically against a sparse, blues-dipped track, while “Greenwich Mean Time” pairs a sinister nursery rhyme with clanging metallic beats. At times – especially on the shimmering “Vanities” – Gainsbourg and Beck succeed in capturing an angelic sense of longing.