Charlotte Gainsbourg at Pohoda 2019
Charlotte Gainsbourg is another performer of Pohoda 2019. The French-English actress and musician is Serge Gainsbourg’s and Jane Birkin’s daughter. She became famous for starring in films such as Melancholia, Jane Eyre, 21 Grams and Nymphomaniac, and has received awards for the best actress from the César Award and from film festivals in Cannes and Bratislava. As a singer, she has released five albums, with IRM (produced by Beck) and the newest Rest resonating the most. The Guardian and The Independent ranked the latter among the best albums of the year. She collaborated on the extraordinarily personal record with artists such as Paul McCartney, Connan Mockasin and Blood Orange, and received the "French Grammy" Victoires de la Musique for it.
11. January 2019
Charlott Gainsbourg started her musical career as a 13-year-old with a controversial duet with her father called "Lemon Incest". The well-known artist provocateur continued in the topic of "borderline" relationship with his daughter in the film Charlotte for Ever, and in his daughter's 1986 debut of the same name. The fans had to wait for her new work for two more decades. It was, however, worth it. The Observer awarded her “grown-up” debut, 5:55, ten points out of ten, and AllMusic praised the excellent collaboration of the super team of producers headed by Dunckel and Godin of the Air and the lyricist Jarvis Cocker (Pulp). The second album IRM (French acronym for magnetic resonance), produced by Beck, was even a bigger success. Pitchfork included the album among the Best New Music and added, that her voice gave Beck’s work depth it had been lacking. Magazine Spin put the video for the title song “Heaven Can Wait” in the selection of the twenty best videos of 2009. Another hit, "Trick Pony", appeared in FIFA 11 game, Gray's Anatomy, and in a Superbowl ad with the model Adriana Lima. In 2011, she released a double album Stage Whisper, which is a collection of unreleased songs from IRM and live recordings. In 2013, she covered Hendrix's "Hey Joe" which she recorded again with Beck.
It appeared on the soundtrack to Trier’s film Nymphomaniac with Charlotte in the leading role. On November 17, 2017, she released the album Rest, which is about coming to terms with the loss of her father and sister Kate Barry. Famous collaborators appeared on this album, too: Paul McCartney, Connan Mockasin, Manuel de Homem-Christo, Owen Pallet, and producer SebastiAn. Pitchfork put this record among the Best New Music (rated 8.7 out of 10) too, describing it as scorchingly intimate and adds: "Gainsbourg doesn’t just reveal her pain, but monumentalizes it, lays out a red carpet, and invites people to watch. Her refusal to be sequestered by grief is, quite literally, a death-defying feat.” The success of the album is followed by her latest EP Take 2, which was released a few weeks ago and was produced by SebastiAn again. Charlotte doesn’t stand out with an extraordinary voice range or singing technique. Her added value is the charisma and emotions she lends to the songs – especially on stage. The Independent and The Guardian described her concert at Village Underground in London as perfect. As Laura Snapes from latter writes: “Charlotte channels her father’s lascivious magnetism into a mesmerising, euphoric show.” The Telegraph started an article about her other London concert with the following words: “Profound grief, subtle grace and marvellous music.” Charlotte Gainsbourgh is going to mix these ingredients into a pleasant music-performance cocktail at the Trenčín airport, too.