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Life after Lemon Incest
Charlotte Gainsbourg releases new album 5.55’
Paris
28/08/2006 -
Charlotte Gainsbourg, who first emerged as a pre-pubescent Lolita crooning the risqué duet Lemon Incest with the late great Serge, went on to pursue her singing career with Charlotte For Ever (also written and produced by her father). That was back in 1986 and since then Charlotte has gone on to make her name as a leading French actress, her father has died and her mother, who started out as a sidekick to Gainsbourg, has gone on to shine in her own right, singing songs penned by new writers after the disappearance of her Pygmalion. Charlotte has now resurfaced on the music scene herself with 5.55’, an album made in collaboration with Air stars Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel and produced by Nigel Godrich (who has worked with the likes of Radiohead, Paul McCartney and Beck). Featuring lyrics by Jarvis Cocker (ex-Pulp) and Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy), 5.55’, Charlotte’s surprise release marks an incursion into what her father once described as elegant, "classy" pop.
RFI Musique: The release of 5.55’ has come completely out of the blue. Since recording Charlotte For Ever – exactly twenty years ago now – you’d never given the slightest hint that you wanted to go back to making music again one day…
Charlotte Gainsbourg: I didn’t feel under any kind of obligation really. Until I’d actually got the project underway, I didn’t breathe a word about it to anyone, not even to my closest friends. I didn’t want to put myself under any kind of pressure. And I certainly didn’t feel like anyone was expecting anything of me, seeing as I’d never said I was going to do anything in the music world.
Throughout the entire preparation for the album we always gave ourselves time. I originally hooked up with Jean-Benoît and Nicolas from Air back in 2003 after a Radiohead gig. Back then they were in the midst of working on Talkie Walkie with Nigel Godrich. Anyway, it all started when we realised that we actually wanted to team up and do something together. After that, we put our heads together and started working, gradually putting stuff together in a studio over a year with me nipping off to make movies every now and then.
I was really concerned about the lyrics on the album. And I decided pretty early on in the piece that I was going to sing in English because I felt singing in French would be too close to my Dad – it would have been too close, and never as good as him anyway! But I also think that if someone had given me brilliant lyrics (in French) I wouldn’t even have realised they were good. We made a very close-knit team with the four of us - Jean-Benoît, Nicolas, Nigel and me – and it was hard to have someone come in from the outside. We were like this little core group and we wanted to keep things between us. We all tried our hand at writing songs and we soon found that nothing in French worked at all. Nigel ended up coming to the rescue, suggesting that we could call Neil Hannon in and get him to help out on certain songs. Neil came along, but he couldn’t stay more than a couple of days. Then, after that, I had to go off for a long stint working on a film in Argentina so everything came to a halt for four or five months. After that, we came up with the idea of getting Jarvis in and from that point on we became a team of five. From that point on, there started to be this real coherence in the lyrics. We knew we were starting to get close to our goal.
Morning Song, the closing track on the album, is credited as having been inspired by one of your own poems…
It started out as something I wrote in English that I was really proud of. When I showed it to Nigel he told me it was something that should be recited rather than sung. I spoke about things in a really simple way. When Jarvis used it as the basis of Morning Song he added what I’d call a ‘little vice’ that makes the song more interesting. It’s made me realise the importance of the way words sound – it’s not necessarily because something you’ve written is beautiful that means it can be sung. I don’t have that talent in any case.
Is being an actress and a singer the same thing?
No, they’re two very different professions. Music revolves around such a small unit. When it came to recording the music for the album, there were just four of us in the studio – five when the drummer was there, too. And that’s a really small world compared to working on a film. When I was recording the vocals, I was actually on my own in the studio with Nigel. Another thing that makes a big difference is the way you interact with the microphone as opposed to the camera. You feel more sort of hidden, more intimate when you’re behind the mic. When you’re in front of a movie camera I feel you don’t actually have to do all that much. The camera picks up stuff from you, even when you’re standing there saying nothing. When you’re behind a mike you have to make your actions more deliberate, more intentional. Sometimes when I was in the recording studio, I’d feel I was getting more across than I actually was. When I turned round and listened to what we’d one, I realised there was nothing there – or not enough, in any case.
Is this album intended to mark the start of a singing career?
I don’t have enough distance to stand back and judge things right now. All I can say is, I wanted to make this album and the process of making it really couldn’t have been better. But I haven’t given the slightest thought to making a second or third album after this. All I know is, I got such a big kick out of doing something musical that it wouldn’t be honest of me to say that I want to stop here. I’d love to take it further, but right now I don’t know how things might take shape.
Could you see yourself having a double career like your mother and being both a singer and an actress?
I’d love to wear several different hats at once. My mother just gets on and does it all so simply. She really shines in a lot of different spheres. She’s been a total bulimic when it comes to work in recent years. She’s just finished directing and acting in her own film. As for her music career, she built something up with my father then found her independence, doing things in her own right. Obviously, I could never follow the same trajectory as her. All I know is I love acting in films and I loved making this album. Maybe there’s no need for me to give up one thing rather than another.
Do you intend to get out there and perform live at some point?
I don’t know yet. Right now, I’m leaving myself the possibility of not knowing. I’d really like to get out and perform live because hearing my mother and Etienne Daho talk about it, it sounds like such an amazing experience. I’d certainly like to be brave enough to do it. I’ve managed to sing into a mike behind a curtain - but I don’t know about going from there to going out and singing on stage. It’s definitely something I’d like to do, though.
Do you feel your album fits into any particular music trend?
No, definitely not. And I’m not saying that because I consider myself as being apart from the rest. It’s just that I’ve never been part of the music world. It was always my Dad and my Mum and I never really had my place at all – having said that, though, I never got out there and tried to make my place either. I don’t consider myself to be a singer, but I definitely had a hidden desire to do this and an urge to put that desire into action. I don’t really know what current music trends are anyway. I’m certainly aware of the place my father has in the music world and the influence he still exerts, but I wouldn’t say I know anything beyond that.
Charlotte Gainsbourg 5.55’ (Because-Warner) 2006
Bertrand Dicale
Bertrand Dicale
Translation : Julie Street
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