radiology.

right now at www.charlottegainsbourg.com, you can download the first song "IRM" (not to be confused with the first single - gainsbourg and beck's duet "heaven can wait"), from her forthcoming album, produced (and co-written, co-created) by beck.

i really like charlotte gainsbourg. i'm on the fence as to whether i prefer her in my ears or on my screen - although the science of sleep really is enough for me to put all my eggs in her acting basket.

IRM was inspired, gainsbourg says, by 6-months-worth of trips to an MRI machine. (apparently after suffering a brain hemmorhage caused by a water-skiing accident.)

if you've ever been in an MRI...machine....?....the first thing you'll notice upon listening to IRM is that the sound is identical. it's really interesting to imagine gainsbourg lying perfectly still, listening to the big magnets chugging around her head, all the while doctoring up a future album in her mind.

the mechanical chug and whiz is backed by an almost tribal drum that reminds me of bjork for some reason. lyrically, gainsbourg stays true to theme -

"analyze ekg. can you see a memory? register all my fear. on a flowchart disappear. leave my head demagnetized. tell me where the trauma lies..."

ps.
she wasn't trying to be quirky by calling the song MRI backwards. in french, it's "imagerie par résonnance magnétique" - or, IRM.