5:55

Coming a full decade after her debut, Charlotte Gainsbourg's second album is a significant departure from her early work, which was directly influenced by her late father, Serge Gainsbourg. On 5:55, Gainsbourg has taken the interesting tack of collaborating not with people who had worked with her father, the most divisive and influential figure in the history of French pop music, but with musicians of her own generation who have previously acknowledged his influence.
Jarvis Cocker, formerly of Britpop mainstays Pulp, Neil Hannon of Irish chamber pop orchestra The Divine Comedy, and the French duo Air have all previously recorded songs indebted to Serge Gainsbourg, but that influence is tempered here by deference to Charlotte's own gifts. Her sultry vocals remain at the fore of all of these songs, supported by the musicians' subtle, soundtrack-like settings. Highlights include the title track and the erotic "Beauty Mark."