Born the daughter of two icons, French chanteur Serge Gainsbourg and British actress Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg spent her teenage years making—quite controversial—music with her father, only to put aside her singing career by the age of twenty to focus on acting full-time. This hiatus lasted twenty years, ending in 2006 with the release of her debut album, 5:55.
Now, the French-British actress-songwriter has released her fourth record, Rest, via Because records. The album is inspired by the songwriter’s move to New York after her half-sister’s suicide—Gainsbourg penned all the lyrics herself, and the album is produced by SebastiAn and features collaborations with, among others, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Sir Paul McCartney, Owen Pallett, and Connan Mockasin.
“I don’t believe I’m an author,” Gainsbourg told Highsnobiety. She continued:
But for this moment, it’s the first time. I don’t really know what I sound like, what the lyrics sound like especially. I wasn’t scared about being personal. It’s an open dialogue to myself, to my sister, to my father. It’s really very personal in the way that I did it very selfishly. I did it because I wanted to express these things at the time, and I didn’t think of how people would respond or what they would get from that. It’s only now that I’m thinking what would people perceive.
Check out three videos from the new album below!
