5:55

Charlotte Gainsbourg | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vice Records
• ASIN: B000NQR7UC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,967 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #76 in Music > Pop > Euro Pop > French Pop
  • #97 in Music > World Music > Rock

Track Listings

1. 5:55

2. AF607105

3. THE OPERATION

4. TEL QUE TU ES

5. THE SONGS THAT WE SING

6. BEAUTY MARK

7. LITTLE MONSTERS

8. JAMAIS

9. NIGHT-TIME INTERMISSION

10. EVERYTHING I CANNOT SEE

11. MORNING SONGUS BONUS TRACKS

12. SET YOURSELF ON FIRE

13. SOMEWHERE BETWEEN WAKING AND SLEEPING

Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk Review

Even without Charlotte Gainsbourg's musical heritage, the prospect of an album written and performed by Air, with lyrics by Jarvis Cocker (ex-Pulp) and Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) would be enough to entice most sensible music fans. But as a combination, 5.55 is far better than probably even the participants imagined it would be.

The combination of Air's trademark glide complements Gainsbourg's voice (which is less singing and more melodic, breathy recitation), to the point where, had the lyrical input been less than stellar, this could easily have sent the listener to sleep. Instead, the emotional detachment in Gainsbourg's delivery acts as a foil to the passion presented in the lyrics. For their part, Cocker and Hannon excel with their trademark darkly humourous input- the passenger on a doomed flight in "AF407105", the surgery/seduction metaphor in "The Operation", or the venomous "Jamais" being particular standouts.

Even though 5.55 bears all the hallmarks of its creators (if so inclined, one could see this as a new Air album, or imagine Cocker or Hannon singing the lyrics), it's even more than the sum of its parts and is almost certainly one of the best albums you'll hear in 2006 or beyond. --Thom Allott

Product Description

International movie star, fashion icon, and music royalty (daughter of French pop icon Serge Gainsbourg) makes her US debut. Already platinum in France with worldwide sales of over 500,000. The US CD release includes two previously unavailable bonus tracks, two music videos, and a video interview with Charlotte. Music by Air, lyrics by Jarvis Cocker and The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, and produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck).

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a fascinating album, November 12, 2006

By 

Steven Guy (Croydon, South Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 5:55 (Hk) (Audio CD)

I put on this album at work the other day out of sheer curiosity. I liked the music of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin and I was wondering what their offspring's album might be like. Arianna Savall, the daughter of Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras, has done some lovely music and her album was highly accomplished. So sometimes the sons and daughters of singers and musicians do succeed in music, too.

I noticed that Jarvis Cocker and one of the members of Air were involved in mademoiselle Gainsbourg's album and that provided me with further incentive to hear this recording.

Okay, this album contains some very attractive music. The piano dominates and the instrumental shell around the singer's voice has an beguiling ambient character. The use of a string orchestra with the piano also impressed me.

I like the fact that Charlotte Gainsbourg's voice sits inside the instrumental music, rather than riding over the top. Ms Gainsbourg often singing in a very subdued way, almost a whisper. Normally, I find this approach a little tedious, but it works well here and is perfectly in keeping with the music.

I listened to this album three times today and I bought it.


I wouldn't mind seeing a collaboration between Charlotte Gainsbourg and John Foxx and/or Harold Budd. I can almost imagine her singing "He's A Liquid".

I warmly recommend 5.55 and I am sure that many music lovers will find much to enjoy in this subtle album.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Atmospheric., June 7, 2008

By 

starschaser (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 5:55 (Audio CD)

Her mother Jane Birkin added her breathy, orgasmic tones to her father Serge Gainsbourg's "Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus".
And the family resemblances are unavoidable in Charlotte's album, that voice hesitant, barely a whisper at times, but shimmering with sexiness.
What saves this album from being a lot of Gallic mumblings bound up in its own self-importance is the heavweight help the family name commanded.
The result of Gainsbourg's meeting with Nicolas Godin, one half of French electronica duo Air, at a Radiohead concert in Paris, "5:55", is a carefully crafted gem.
Charlotte's voice is as slight and breathy as her mother's, but lyrics by Jarvis Cocker and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon create a hazy, Gauloise-inflected intimacy against full, string-rich arrangements by producer Nigel Godrich, those Parisian maestros of wafting electronica "Air" are on board, as is "Radiohead" producer Nigel Godrich and Nigerian percussionist Tony Allen, lauded by Brian Eno as "the greatest musician on the planet".
The title track "5:55" and the first single "The Songs That We Sing stand out", the former haunting and piano-led, the latter carrying an infectiously boisterous chorus.
At times Charlotte's thin voice and finishing-school vowels can grate, but the album as a whole is emotive, rewarding and compelling - a world away from feather-strewn beds and dodgy filial duets.
We get the mildly erotic, such as the teasing "Beauty Mark", and we get something like beat poetry in "AF607105", with its stark lines about air travel.
There's also big helpings of the kind of wistful balladeering only the French can muster.

4 * * * * and 1/2.

The Originals
Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg
Songs That We Sing
L'Effrontee
Golden Door

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ummm....Wow!, April 24, 2007

By 

Cale E. Reneau "audiooverflow.com" (Conroe, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 5:55 (Audio CD)

They say if you're not any good at singing, you should surround yourself with the best musicians you can find. Time after time, this little method of canceling out one's vocal flaws has worked with almost no one noticing. So when I first heard that Charlotte Gainsbourg, a rather accomplished (or at least, talented) actress, was making an album with the help of the guys from Air, Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, and the one and only Jarvis Cocker, my first thought was that I was in for another lesson in "How Not to Sing." But I was terribly mistaken. As it turns out, Charlotte Gainsbourg is extremely talented. And wouldn't you know it? "5:55" is beautiful!

While not possessing the most powerful voice ever captured on an album, Gainsbourg does a brilliant job of blending her vocals in with Dunckel and Godin's Air-ish compositions. She accomplishes this by half-whispering most of her lyrics, but it sounds absolutely perfect. On the title track, "5:55," she sings, "Soon the morning will arrive. Can I begin another day whilst this old day is still alive, refusing to be put away," so beautifully that it feels like she's singing only for you. This brilliant lyric is penned by Cocker, as he and Hannon share most the songwriting duties on the album.

"The Operation" is perhaps the standout track on the album. It utilizes a steady electronic drum beat to accompany a great piano composition and bass line. The highlight of the song comes about half way through when the music drops out to leave Charlotte whispering, "Our love goes under the knife. Nothing is taboo here on the cutting edge of science..." It is yet another fantastic song.

'The Songs that We Sing" is the first time the album crosses into near-pop territory (later revisited in "Everything I Cannot See"). The music itself feels like it could've been ripped right off of one of Neil Hannon's albums. The song begins with an upbeat piano line and a xylophone syncopating along with it. Here, Gainsbourg asks the question, "And the songs that we sing, do they mean anything to the people we're singing them to?" over well-composed chord progression. "Beauty Mark" is a lesson in minimalism. The percussion on the song is largely forgotten in favor of creating the kind of lush soundscapes that have defined Air's sound for so many years. In what is extremely reminiscent of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic short story, "The Birthmark," Gainsbourg sings, "This little death, this mark of sin, forever painted on my skin" over swells of strings.

The album is filled with examples of how my initial hypothesis was wrong. In fact, every song on this album is so gorgeous that it's hard to believe that Gainsbourg hasn't set aside her acting career in favor of this pursuit. Indeed, she is an unbelievably talented individual, and "5:55" is evidence of that. Of course, one could make the argument that without the talents of her constituents the album would not be near as good. My response is, who cares? "5:55" is amazing from the time you press play to when the final second ticks off. That's quite an achievement, and one that should not go unnoticed.

Recommended for fans of Air, Zero 7, and anyone who wants to define "beauty" more accurately.

Key Tracks:
1. "5:55"
2. "AF607105"
3. "The Operation"
4. "The Songs that We Sing"
5. "Little Monsters"

9 out of 10 Stars