Charlotte Gainsbourg may not be well known but she is a force to be reckoned with. A British-French actress and singer who’s filmography include iconic roles in The Science of Sleep, I’m Not There and Melancholia. Her music transcends, and her latest 2017 album Rest is proof that she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Today, Gainsbourg shares “Sylvia Says,” the latest in a long line of self-directed videos recently. The video is self-directed by Gainsbourg and features the singer/actress walking through landfill, streets of New York City and supermarket. One scene has her walking towards a group of pedestrians; one glimpse makes it appear like a battle is going on, but it is just another workday as the people begin their commute, having an everyday experience. Some of the scenes within the video are filmed at extreme speeds, the editing jolts and disorients. What appears to be like a regular workday falls into images of surrealism. As the crowds converge, they begin to collapse one by one as Gainsbourg takes a nap on a cloud of disco balls.
“Sylvia Says” comes directly off Gainsbourg latest album, Rest, her fourth studio album, which came out last November via Because Music. The album is also her first album in seven years. It is an intimate album filled with ghosts, aching reminiscences, and confrontations of loss. With the new track, which references Sylvia Plath’s “Mad Girl’s Love Song,” lyrics delivered by Gainsbourg, are recitation of the poem – “’I shut my eyes, and all the world drops dead’/Sylvia says/’I lift my lids and all is born again’/Sylvia says.” According to the press release, “the song reveals its kinship with others off Rest, amplifying the intensity of achingly introspective moments.”
Rest, which was produced by SebastiAn (Frank Ocean, Kavinsky) and mixed by Tom Elmhirst (Adele, Lorde, David Bowie,) follows the release of Sylvia Says Remixes, an EP filled with remixes from A-Trak, Tensnake, Breakbot, Jerge, Mind Enterprises, and Radio Slave. The latest music video by Gainsbourg is the most recent of self-directed videos from Rest including; “Deadly Valentine,” “Ring Ring o’ Roses,” “Lying With You,” “I’m Lie,” and “Rest.”
Gainsbourg is currently on tour in Europe, but fans in America can catch her in concert when she performs in Los Angeles at the Fonda Theater on July 20nd and New York City at the Panorama Festival on July 27nd.
Watch Gainsbourg’s music video for “Sylvia Says” down below.
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