Conflicted about Charlotte

So I picked up the latest by sexy chanteuse Charlotte Gainsbourg and so far I'm liking it a lot. She plays mix and match with genres, textures, tempos and languages and pretty much holds your attention throughout the entire disc.

That's the problem.

See, most of the songs were written by Beck and he plays on a lot of the tracks. I used to like Beck a lot. I found tracks like Milk & Honey and The New Pollution to be instantly compelling in an "of the moment" way.

That's the problem.

See, none of Beck's songs have any staying power. I remember reading a review that said his music was all based on mediated experience (drawn from TV and such), not actual experience. He picks up the detritus of our media-soaked age and recycles it into catchy tunes.

That's the problem.

The AV Club called her stuff "easy listening for the cool kids" and I can see where they're coming from. Heaven can Wait has a jangle-pop bounce that would do Feist proud. Voyage has that kind of non-threateningly exotic fair-trade coffee vibe to it that reminds me I'm a good person for caring about cheetas and global warming and stuff without actually having to do anything about either. Both she and Beck pick textures and tempos like they were offerings at a buffet.

Am I going to like this disc in a month? A week? Will I love it intensely or consign it to the "Oh yeah, I forgot I owned that" pile?

Only time will tell.

And that's the problem.

 In the meantime, here are some pictures of Charlotte. I know there's one aspect of the matter I'm not conflicted about at all.