Previous albums have enlisted lyric-writing help from Jarvis Cocker, Air and Beck, but Gainsbourg’s fourth is notable for being largely self-penned (with a little help from Paul McCartney on Songbird in a Cage). French DJ SebastiAn’s slick production makes for a very polished sound that’s easy on the ear, helped by Gainsbourg’s whispered, breathy vocals which alternate between French and English. The opener, Ring-a-Ring o’ Roses, sounds far more sophisticated than a song using a a nursery rhyme as its refrain has any right to, and Deadly Valentine also engages. Too often, though, style triumphs over substance, and too many songs flail in their own restrained elegance. Worse, the hidden track featuring a child mangling the alphabet is painfully self-indulgent rather than cute.
