Rest (Charlotte Gainsbourg album) explained

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.^[2]

Background

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

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. Olivia Horn of Pitchfork awarded the album a "Best New Music" designation, claiming "it is at once scorchingly intimate and fantastically oversized". Exclaim!s Anna Alger praised Gainsbourg for striking "a balance between sombre beauty and a mix of Euro disco, funk and pop."^[5]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank
Albumism	50 Best Albums of 2017
BrooklynVegan	Top 50 Albums of 2017
Drowned in Sound	Favourite Albums of 2017
FLOOD Magazine	The Best Albums of 2017
Earbuddy	100 Best Albums of 2017
Noisey	The 100 Best Albums of 2017
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2017
	The 20 Best Pop and R&B Albums of 2017
The Independent	30 Best Albums of 2017
The Guardian	The Best Albums of 2017

Track listing

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

Personnel

Musicians

• Charlotte Gainsbourg – vocals
  • SebastiAn – synthesiser, drum programming, piano, harpsichord, bells, organ, synth bass, Rhodes, bass guitar, Wurlitzer, backing vocals, guitars, clavinet Emile Sornin – guitars, Mellotron, bass guitar, clavinet, harpsichord, Philicorda, Wurlitzer, glockenspiel, noise, percussion, tambourine
• Alice Attal – backing vocals
• Skyler Pierce Scher – backing vocals
• Rachel Kay McCain – backing vocals
• Elisabeth Sophia Seiple – backing vocals
• Vincent Taeger – drums
• Paul McCartney – guitars, piano, additional drums

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
• Joe Visciano – mixing assistance, engineering
• Brandon Boost – mixing assistance, engineering
• Eric Chedeville – mixing, engineering
• 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
• Laury Chanty – engineering assistance
• Chab – mastering

Artwork

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

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (2017)	Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[6]	118
French Albums (SNEP)[7]	156

Chart (2018)	Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[8]	123
French Albums (SNEP)[9]	188

Notes and References

1. E.W.: In “Rest”, Charlotte Gainsbourg explores the sharp edges of grief. The Economist (2017). https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2017/10/plain-sight
2. https://www.spin.com/2017/09/charlotte-gainsbourg-rest-video/ Anna Gaca: Video: Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Rest”. Spin (2017)
3. Web site: On a discuté avec Sebastian, de son grand retour à Frank Ocean. Konbini. 2020-08-12.
4. Web site: Charlotte Gainsbourg à New York avec SebastiAn pour son nouvel album. chartsinfrance.net. 2015-06-26. 2015-05-25. Hamard. Jonathan.
5. Web site: Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest. Anna. Alger. Exclaim!. 2017-11-14. 2017-11-23.
6. Web site: Rapports Annuels 2017. Ultratop. 2021-02-24.
7. Web site: Top de l'année Top Albums 2017. SNEP. fr. 2020-01-08.
8. Web site: Rapports Annuels 2018. Ultratop. 2021-02-24.
9. Web site: Top de l'année Top Albums 2018. SNEP. fr. 2020-01-08.