Serge Gainsbourg — Histoire de Melody Nelson

Serge Gainsbourg
Histoire de Melody Nelson
Light in the Attic

A caricature-looking Frenchman with a penchant for penning songs pertaining to lust, drugs and morbid infatuation, Serge Gainsbourg‘s output from the late ‘50s through the 1970s remains a hallmark in the annals of sexual pop music. Histoire de Melody Nelson, originally released in 1971 and now repackaged by Light in the Attic Records, tells the lurid tale of Gainsbourg’s (fictional?) affair with a 15-year-old girl named Melody. Lyrically devious yet breathtaking, the compositions are chock-full of punchy soul groove; drums hot with grace notes and hi-hat, guitar shrill and lick-y, bass smooth with mid-range and string arrangements sparse but poignant. Gainsbourg himself resides as the smoky-voiced overlord, enticing all listeners to step within his world of temptation. “Où es-tu Melody et ton corps disloqué?”
Jacob Sprecher

Tags: french pop, light in the attic, melody nelson, pop, rerelease, serge gainsbourg, Sex