Rest (Charlotte Gainsbourg album)

2017 studio album by Charlotte Gainsbourg

Rest

Studio album by

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Released| 17 November 2017 (2017-11-17)
Studio|

* A.S. (Paris)
* Palestine (Paris)
* Motorbass (Paris)
* Electric Lady (New York)
* Crowdspacer (Brooklyn, New York)

Length| 46:23
Language|

* English
* French

Label| Because
Producer| SebastiAn[a]
Charlotte Gainsbourg chronology
| Stage Whisper
(2011)  | Rest
(2017)  | Take 2
(2018)

|
|

Singles from  Rest

1. "Rest"
Released: 8 September 2017
2. "Deadly Valentine"
Released: 21 September 2017

Rest is the fifth album by French singer and actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. It was primarily produced by French electronic musician SebastiAn, and released on 17 November 2017 by Because Music. It is her first album release in six years, and features collaborations with Paul McCartney, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Owen Pallett and Connan Hosford, among others. The tracks "Rest" and "Deadly Valentine" were released as singles and music videos, both directed by Gainsbourg herself.

The album explores the deaths of Gainsbourg's father Serge Gainsbourg and half-sister Kate Barry, with a focus on the theme of alcohol addiction. She has commented that "the album took a different direction. I wanted to express [my grief] not only with sadness but with anger."[1] The lyrics are in English and French.[1][2]

## Background[edit]

When they first met, SebastiAn told Gainsbourg that he would like to work with her but that he wanted the project to be done in French, but she refused to do so. A year later, Gainsbourg, after the death of her sister Kate Barry, contacted him again and told him that she would like to say certain things and that she could only say them in French.[3] Thus, they started working on Rest in New York.[4]

## Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
AnyDecentMusic?| 7.5/10[5]
Metacritic| 80/100[6]
Review scores
Source| Rating
AllMusic| [7]
The A.V. Club| B+[8]
The Guardian| [9]
Mojo| [10]
The Observer| [11]
Pitchfork| 8.7/10[12]
Q| [13]
Rolling Stone| [14]
The Times| [15]
Uncut| 8/10[16]

Rest received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 80 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on 22 reviews.[6] Olivia Horn of Pitchfork awarded the album a "Best New Music" designation, claiming "it is at once scorchingly intimate and fantastically oversized".[12] Exclaim!'s Anna Alger praised Gainsbourg for striking "a balance between sombre beauty and a mix of Euro disco, funk and pop."[17]

### Accolades[edit]

Publication  | Accolade  | Rank  | Ref.

|
|
|

Albumism | 50 Best Albums of 2017  |

[18]

BrooklynVegan | Top 50 Albums of 2017  |

[19]

Drowned in Sound | Favourite Albums of 2017  |

[20]

FLOOD Magazine | The Best Albums of 2017  |

[21]

Earbuddy | 100 Best Albums of 2017  |

[22]

Noisey | The 100 Best Albums of 2017  |

[23]

Pitchfork | The 50 Best Albums of 2017  |

[24]

The 20 Best Pop and R&B Albums of 2017  |

[25]

The Independent | 30 Best Albums of 2017  |

[26]

The Guardian | The Best Albums of 2017  |

[27]

## Track listing[edit]

All lyrics written by Charlotte Gainsbourg; all music composed and produced by SebastiAn; except where noted.

No.| Title| Lyrics| Music| Producer(s)| Length

|
|
|
|
|

1.| "Ring-a-Ring o' Roses"|  |  |  | 4:28
2.| "Lying with You"|  |  |  | 3:18
3.| "Kate"|  |  |  | 3:40
4.| "Deadly Valentine"|  |  |  | 6:04
5.| "I'm a Lie"|  |  |  | 3:29
6.| "Rest"|

* Charlotte Gainsbourg
* Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo

| Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo| Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo| 3:38
7.| "Sylvia Says"|

* Gainsbourg
* Sylvia Plath

|  |  | 4:27
8.| "Songbird in a Cage"| Paul McCartney| Paul McCartney|  | 4:32
9.| "Dans vos airs"|  |

* SebastiAn
* Connan Hosford

|  | 3:33
10.| "Les Crocodiles"|  |

* SebastiAn
* Hosford

|  | 3:17
11.| "Les Oxalis"|  |  |  | 7:57
Total length:| 46:23

## Personnel[edit]

Musicians

* Charlotte Gainsbourg – vocals
* SebastiAn – synthesiser (1, 2, 4, 7, 9–11), drum programming (1–5, 7–11), piano (1–3, 9–11), harpsichord (1, 7, 8, 10, 11), bells (1, 7), organ (1), synth bass (2–5, 7, 9, 10), Rhodes (2, 3, 5, 10, 11), bass guitar (7, 10, 11), Wurlitzer (7), backing vocals (7), guitars (9, 11), clavinet (11)
* Emile Sornin – guitars (1, 2, 5), Mellotron (1, 2, 5), bass guitar (1, 2, 5, 8, 9), clavinet (2, 5), harpsichord (2), Philicorda (5, 8), Wurlitzer (5, 8), glockenspiel (5, 8), noise (5, 8), percussion (5), tambourine (8)
* Alice Attal – backing vocals (3)
* Skyler Pierce Scher – backing vocals (3)
* Rachel Kay McCain – backing vocals (3)
* Elisabeth Sophia Seiple – backing vocals (3)
* Vincent Taeger – drums (4, 8, 11)
* Paul McCartney – guitars (8), piano (8), additional drums (8)

Strings and horns

* SebastiAn – arrangement
* Owen Pallett – arrangement, conducting
* Nadia Sirota – fixing, viola
* Kabir Hermon – recording
* Anna Elashvili – violin
* Annaliesa Place – violin
* Laura Lutzke – violin
* Patricia Kilroy – violin
* Pauline Kim Harris – violin
* Rob Moose – violin
* Gabriel Cabezas – cello
* David Nelson – trombone
* Rachel Drehmann – French horn

Technical

* Tom Elmhirst – mixing (1–5, 7–11)
* Joe Visciano – mixing assistance (1–5, 7–11), engineering
* Brandon Boost – mixing assistance (1–5, 7–11), engineering
* Eric Chedeville – mixing (6), engineering (6)
* Sebastian – engineering
* Emile Sornin – engineering
* Julien Naudin – engineering
* Antoine Poyeton – engineering
* Drew Brown – engineering
* Phil Joly – engineering
* Beatriz Artola – engineering
* Joakim Bouaziz – engineering
* Gus – engineering
* Florian Lagatta – engineering (6)
* Laury Chanty – engineering assistance (6)
* Chab – mastering

Artwork

* Collier Schorr – photos
* Nathalie Canguilhem – creative direction
* Raphaël Garnier – graphic design

|

## Charts[edit]

### Weekly charts[edit]

| Chart (2017–18)  | Peak
position

|

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] | 49
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] | 18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[30] | 9
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[31] | 63
French Albums (SNEP)[32] | 14
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[33] | 74
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[34] | 38
Scottish Albums (OCC)[35] | 66
UK Albums (OCC)[36] | 89

### Year-end charts[edit]

| Chart (2017)  | Position

|

Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[37] | 118
French Albums (SNEP)[38] | 156
Chart (2018)  | Position

|

Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[39] | 123
French Albums (SNEP)[40] | 188

## Certifications[edit]

Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

France (SNEP)[41] | Gold  | 50,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Except "Rest", produced by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Additional vocal production and editing by Brian Burton on "Lying with You", "I'm a Lie", "Dans vos airs" and "Les Crocodiles".

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b E.W.: In “Rest”, Charlotte Gainsbourg explores the sharp edges of grief. The Economist (2017). [1]
2. ^ Anna Gaca: Video: Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Rest”. Spin (2017)
3. ^ "On a discuté avec Sebastian, de son grand retour à Frank Ocean". Konbini. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
4. ^ Hamard, Jonathan (25 May 2015). "Charlotte Gainsbourg à New York avec SebastiAn pour son nouvel album". chartsinfrance.net. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
5. ^ "Rest by Charlotte Gainsbourg reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
6. ^ a b "Rest by Charlotte Gainsbourg Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
7. ^ Phares, Heather. "Rest – Charlotte Gainsbourg". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
8. ^ Waite, Kelsey J. (17 November 2017). "Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rest". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
9. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (16 November 2017). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest review – musical chameleon finds her voice". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
10. ^ Hutcheon, David (December 2017). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest". Mojo (289): 89.
11. ^ Mongredien, Phil (19 November 2017). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest review – bags of style, not enough substance". The Observer. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
12. ^ a b Horn, Olivia (17 November 2017). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
13. ^ Oldham, James (January 2018). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest". Q (380): 109.
14. ^ Dolan, Jon (20 November 2017). "Review: Charlotte Gainsbourg Takes Spacey Trip With Sir Paul, Half of Daft Punk". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
15. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (10 November 2017). "Pop review: Charlotte Gainsbourg; Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Claude Vannier". The Times. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
16. ^ Mueller, Andrew (December 2017). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest". Uncut (247): 27.
17. ^ Alger, Anna (14 November 2017). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest". Exclaim!. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
18. ^ "ALBUMISM SELECTS: The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Albumism.com. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
19. ^ "BrooklynVegan's Top 50 Albums of 2017". Brooklynvegan.com. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
20. ^ "Drowned in Sound's Favourite Albums of 2017". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
21. ^ "FLOOD | The Best Albums of 2017". Floodmagazine.com. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
22. ^ "Earbuddy's 100 Best Albums of 2017". 11 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017.
23. ^ "The 100 Best Albums of 2017 - VICE". Noisey.vice.com. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
24. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Pitchfork. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
25. ^ Katherine St. Asaph (19 December 2017). "The 20 Best Pop and R&B Albums of 2017". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
26. ^ The Independent Staff (27 November 2017). "30 Best Albums of 2017". The Independent. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
27. ^ The Guardian Staff (5 December 2017). "The best albums of 2017: the full list". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
28. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
29. ^ "Ultratop.be – Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
30. ^ "Ultratop.be – Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
31. ^ "Charlotte Gainsbourg Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
32. ^ "Lescharts.com – Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
33. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
34. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2018. 14. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
35. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
36. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
37. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2017". Ultratop. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
38. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2017" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
39. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2018". Ultratop. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
40. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2018" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
41. ^ "French album certifications – Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 7 March 2018.

* v
* t
* e

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Studio albums|

* Charlotte for Ever
* 5:55
* IRM
* Stage Whisper
* Rest

EPs|

* Sunset Sound

Singles|

* "Lemon Incest"
* "The Songs That We Sing"
* "Heaven Can Wait"

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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