Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM

Beck Hansen has been on a collaboration streak lately, covering albums by such artists as Leonard Cohen and the Velvet Underground with his record club. His latest team-up is with French actress/chanteuse Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose third album, IRM, continues Beck’s long march to indie-rock omnipresence.

And it is no exaggeration to refer to the album, which he wrote and produced, as his own. Beck provided instrumentation and also duets with Gainsbourg on the lead single, “Heaven Can Wait,” a dreamy piece of Gaulic ’60s pop. Beck seems to be playing Phil Spector to Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Ronnie Spector (minus psychological torture). The album itself, meanwhile, gives a nod to Nico’s Chelsea Girl and the world of French-pop bohmenianism that Gainsbourg’s father Serge inhabited.

Beck and Gainsbourg acquit themselves admirably in most respects. Hansen has done his homework and bends his idiosyncratic style of instrumentation into something more suitable for his muse. On “Master’s Hands” and “Time of the Assassins,” Gainsbourg’s breathy voice masterfully encapsulates the lounge jazz of mid-century Paris. The album errs too much on the side of style over substance.

It’s slick verging on sterile; although IRM’s atmosphere is pitch-perfect, the arrangement is restrained—Gainsbourg doesn’t have the vocal chops to carry the often inconsequential lyrics. It is only on the lead single, with the singers confident in the material, and on the uncharacteristically adventurous Kraut Rock-inspired title track, that the album satisfies.

The songs ultimately sound sophisticated and crafted but don’t leave an impression. It’s disappointing to have an entry in Starbucks Adult Contemporary, especially when taking into account Gainsbourg’s pedigree and Beck’s track record.