5:55

5:55
Studio album by
Released28 August 2006 (2006-08-28)
GenreIndie pop, dream pop
Length42:37
LanguageEnglish, French
LabelBecause Music, Atlantic, Vice
ProducerNigel Godrich
Charlotte Gainsbourg chronology
Charlotte for Ever
(1986)
5:55
(2006)
IRM
(2009)
Singles from 5:55
  1. "The Songs That We Sing"
    Released: 2006
  2. "5:55"
    Released: 2007
  3. "The Operation"
    Released: 2007
  4. "Beauty Mark"
    Released: 2007
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Guardian[3]
The Observer[4]
Pitchfork Media(5.8/10)[5]
The Times[6]

5:55 is the second album by French musician and actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. It was also her first album in twenty years. Charlotte collaborated on the album with French duo Air, English musician Jarvis Cocker, Irish singer-songwriter Neil Hannon, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. "The Songs That We Sing" and "5:55" were released as singles. The album went platinum in France, selling over 500,000 copies.[7][8] In the United States, the album sold 22,000 copies. "The Songs That We Sing" was No. 78 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[9]

Charlotte sang most of the album in English. In France, the album received critical acclaim. Pitchfork described its erotic lyrical content as reminiscent of Serge Gainsbourg's, and Charlotte's vocal approach as similar to that of Jane Birkin.[5] Overall, the album received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.[1]

The first single, "The Songs That We Sing" was also included in the soundtrack to the 2009 film The Uninvited.[10][11]

In 2012 it was awarded a platinum certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 400,000 copies throughout Europe.[12]

Track listing

[edit]

All music is composed by Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."5:55"
4:52
2."AF607105"Cocker4:30
3."The Operation"Cocker3:59
4."Tel Que Tu Es"
  • Godin
  • Dunckel
3:09
5."The Songs That We Sing"2:57
6."Beauty Mark"
  • Hannon
  • Cocker
  • Godin
  • Dunckel
3:06
7."Little Monsters"Cocker3:46
8."Jamais"Cocker4:37
9."Night-Time Intermission"2:44
10."Everything I Cannot See"Cocker5:45
11."Morning Song"
  • Cocker
  • Gainsbourg
3:08

Bonus tracks

[edit]

On some releases one or two bonus tracks were added.

No.TitleLyricsLength
12."Set Yourself on Fire"Cocker4:10
13."Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping"
  • Hannon
  • Cocker
3:45

Personnel

[edit]
Technical

Chart performance

[edit]

Album

[edit]
Chart (2006/2007) Peak
position
French Albums Chart[13] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[14] 41
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[15] 15
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[16] 2
Dutch Albums Chart[17] 99
European Billboard Top 100 Albums[18] 14
German Albums Chart[19] 38
Swedish Albums Chart[20] 57
Swiss Albums Chart[21] 12
UK Albums Chart 78
US Billboard 200[22][23] 196
US Billboard Top Heatseekers[23][24] 9
US Billboard Top Independent Albums[23][25] 24

Singles

[edit]
"The Songs That We Sing"
Chart (2006/2007) Peak
position
French SNEP Singles Chart[26] 30
Belgian Ultratip Chart (Flanders)[26] 10
Belgian Ultratip Chart (Wallonia)[26] 4
UK Singles Chart 129
Billboard European Hot 100 Singles[27] 87

Release history

[edit]
Region Date Label Format Catalog Notes
France 28 August 2006 (2006-08-28) Because Music CD 3116662
Enhanced CD 3116672 Limited edition, with bonus track "Set Yourself on Fire". Enhanced section includes a Flash version of the booklet including lyrics, pictures and credits.
4 September 2006 (2006-09-04) LP album BEC5772052 Double album.
UK Because Music, Atlantic Records 5051011-5911-2-9
Europe Because Music, Warner Music 2564-63652-2
Japan 8 November 2006 (2006-11-08) Warner Music CD WPCR-12431 With bonus tracks "Set Yourself on Fire" and "Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping"
US 24 April 2007 (2007-04-24) Vice Records Enhanced CD 94703-2 With bonus tracks "Set Yourself on Fire" and "Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping". Enhanced section includes the promotional videos of "The Songs That We Sing" and "5:55" and an interview with Gainsbourg.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "5:55 by Charlotte Gainsbourg". Metacritic.
  2. ^ Phares, Heather. "5:55 > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  3. ^ Petridis, Alexis (1 September 2006). "CD: Charlotte Gainsbourg, 5:55". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  4. ^ Hussey, Andrew (13 August 2006). "CD: Charlotte Gainsbourg, 5.55". The Observer. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  5. ^ a b Hogan, Marc (15 September 2006). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Charlotte Gainsbourg: 5:55". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  6. ^ Mulvey, John (2 September 2006). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: 5.55 review". The Times. Retrieved 12 December 2009.[dead link]
  7. ^ Atlantic Records :: Charlotte Gainsbourg News Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Charlotte Gainsbourg : un 5ème album en octobre 2012". pure charts. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  9. ^ "The 100 Best Songs of 2007 : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 27 December 2007. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  10. ^ "The Uninvited (2009/I) – Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  11. ^ "The Uninvited (2009) – Cast and Credits". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  12. ^ "Aktuelles VUT: VUT - Verband unabhängiger Musikunternehmer*innen e. V."
  13. ^ "lescharts.com – Charlotte Gainsbourg  – 5:55" (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  14. ^ "Charlotte Gainsbourg – 5:55 – austriancharts.at" (in German). Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  15. ^ "ultratop.be – Charlotte Gainsbourg  – 5:55". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  16. ^ "ultratop.be – Charlotte Gainsbourg  – 5:55". Ultratop (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  17. ^ "dutchcharts.nl – Charlotte Gainsbourg  – 5:55" (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  18. ^ "5:55 – Charlotte Gainsbourg – The Visualizer – European Albums". Billboard. 4 October 2003. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  19. ^ "Gainsbourg, Charlotte / Longplay" (in German). musicline.de. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  20. ^ "swedishcharts.com – Charlotte Gainsbourg  – 5:55". Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  21. ^ "Charlotte Gainsbourg – 5:55 – hitparade.ch" (in German). Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  22. ^ "Charlotte Gainsbourg Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  23. ^ a b c "Charlotte Gainsbourg > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  24. ^ "Charlotte Gainsbourg Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  25. ^ "Charlotte Gainsbourg Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  26. ^ a b c "lescharts.com – Charlotte Gainsbourg – The Songs That We Sing" (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  27. ^ "The Songs That We Sing – Charlotte Gainsbourg". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
[edit]