My friend Taro sent this to me from his home in Tokyo, and it is one of my favorite Serge Gainsbourg projects. Not as famous or iconic as his work with Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, but nevertheless a late Serge masterpiece. Recorded in London and in 1981, Catherine Deneuve, the marvelous French actress (actor), made her first album with Serge writing all the songs. She is seen in the early Jacques Demy musicals, but I believe her voice is dubbed over by another singer. Still, Deneuve can rock the party here on this album. Backed by studio guitarist great Alan Parker, a latter-day Jimmy Page here with riffing electric guitar. Arrangements and keyboards by Alan Hawkshaw, another great British studio musician and backed by bassist Brian Odgers, and drummer Dougie Wright of the John Barry (Jane's first husband by the way) Seven.
It's a solid rock background, and almost every song here is catchy as hell. My favorite cuts are Dépression Au-Dessus Du Jardin and Oh Soliman. Deneuve is not a singer, but her voice is still stronger than Birkin or Bardot, and she makes these songs by Gainsbourg spicy and hot. Not an accessible album to find, but it is an essential Gainsbourg project. It needs to be reissued.
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