Charlotte Gainsbourg feat. Beck Heaven Can Wait (Because Music)
2/5
By: Rachel Bolland
There’s something about the phrase “actress slash singer” that fills me with dread. It may be the Zoolander awards ceremony scene it instantly brings to my mind or the number of actresses who have attempted it and fallen fairly flat. Gainsbourg however seems to be pretty adept at both, winning Best Actress at this year’s Cannes film festival and has two successful albums under her belt.
‘Heaven Can Wait’ is the lead single from her new album IRM with all songs bar one co-written and produced by the wonderful Beck. This track also has the singer featuring with Gainsbourg. As a result it doesn’t feel like it would have been out of place on Modern Guilt, Beck’s last LP. But as great as Beck is, for me it’s almost as if such a heavy association with him is holding Gainsbourg back, almost eclipsing the fact that this is her single.
Despite coming from an otherwise fantastic parent LP, this quiet, slow track never really seems to take off. The combination of her breathy vocals and his deeper ones almost gel, but there’s something uncomfortable about it, as is the mix of their voices with the syncopated piano backing. The point where Gainsbourg ventures out on her own it feels as if there’s a timidity there that’s stopping her from fully showcasing her vocal talent. The song itself isn’t a bad, lyrically beautiful – “Heaven can wait/And hell’s too far to go” – it feels like it has the potential to be something great. It just feels that it may have been more suited as a Beck solo track than one for someone with as delicate a voice as Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Artists in this article: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Beck
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