Following a pair of collaborative albums -- one a tribute to Hollywood's Chateau Marmont with
Chilly Gonzales, the other with his improvisational art rock group, Jarv Is --
Jarvis Cocker takes another unpredictable stylistic turn with his first solo album in 12 years,
Chansons d'Ennui Tip-Top. A tie-in to the soundtrack for the 2021
Wes Anderson film The French Dispatch, it offers 12 cinematic covers of classic French pop songs, some with ties themselves to other films. A collaboration with
Anderson, the record closes on the larger-than-life "Aline,"
Cocker's version of the hit '60s ballad by
Christophe that he recorded for The French Dispatch soundtrack and which inspired a full album of like-minded covers. Steeped in echo, thundering drums, harpsichord, and a weave of strings and soaring backing vocals, it's guided by
Cocker's spoke-sung vocals as they rise from sultry whispers to tortured pleas. Generally using the dramatic, stylized arrangements of the originals as templates throughout, he opens the album with "Dans Ma Chambre" and, loyal to the
Dalida original, a quote of the famous opening to
Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which recurs during the song. A highlight for its quirky theatricality, the space-age "Contact," a
Serge Gainsbourg tune made famous by
Brigitte Bardot, is a fairly spot-on cover by
Cocker, who has
Bardot-like vocal support on the choruses. Speaking of guests,
Stereolab's
Laetitia Sadier is featured prominently on another
Dalida entry, "Paroles Paroles," the singer's seductive 1973 duet with actor
Alain Delon. The
Tip-Top version employs a similar palette but emphasizes piano, bass, hand drums, and eventually strings over the original's bossa-style guitar, though all this and more comes into play on both editions. Elsewhere here, French cinema is represented on tracks such as "Requiem pour un Con," a
Gainsbourg original from the 1968 film Le Pacha, the psychedelic "Mao Mao" from 1967's La Chinoise, and the finger-snapping funk entry "Elle et Moi," an earlier track included in 2003's Any Way the Wind Blows (featuring a dramatic reading in the style of the '80s new beat original by Max Berlin). Intriguing from beginning to end,
Cocker's lush, emphatic takes should delight fans of vintage French and Baroque pop. ~ Marcy Donelson