The Pressure Points That Cause Your Joy And Pain

Charlotte Gainsbourg “The Operation” – If this track was not actually co-written by Jarvis Cocker, one would be forced to accuse it of flagrant Cocker mimicry. Gainsbourg has no choice but to deliver his words with an approximation of his cadence and droll comic timing, but her breathy femininity is a welcome twist on his old formula. The singer imagines intimacy as a complicated and messy surgery that she performs upon her partner, and thoroughly navigates the metaphor as it cycles through moments of eroticism, sadism, and spirituality before reaching its bitter conclusion. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: My new Hit Refresh column is up on the ASAP site, with mp3s from White Magic, Velella Velella, and Lullatone.