Charlotte Gainsbourg feat. Beck - Heaven Can Wait

Taken from Gainsbourg’s latest album ‘IRM’, this delicately crafted piece of work delights on many levels. Produced by Beck and featuring his sparse vocals throughout, ‘Heaven Can Wait’ is as much a Beck song featuring Gainsbourg than it is the other way around.

Featuring the remnants of deadpan gloom not seen so strongly since his work on the album ‘Sea Change’, ‘Heaven Can Wait’s jaunty piano keys provide a haunting backbone to the lyrics which, whilst never overly complex, provide several imaginative metaphors (‘She’s hiding, she’s hiding on a battleship of baggage and bones’) on the usual relationship issues. Its sub three minute length means the song never outstays its welcome and upon successive listens steadily grows into one of the most surprisingly pleasant listens in a while.

The Grizzly Bear remix is a straightforward take on the track, stripping the melody down to just its bare bones and for all intents and purposes it works well. Less so can be said on the final Jackson Escalator mix, but that’s a small niggle on what is essentially a very strong piece of work.