Superb! Jane moving away from Gainsbourg

Moving away from the influence of Serge Gainsbourg in her career - which after all he created, svengali-like - though still fiercely protective of his legacy, Jane Birkin 's latest album is her first in a long time (ever?) to be mainly in English and she has surrounded herself with some pretty impressive talent as well as picking songs that were not obvious for her to cover but turned out to be from sublime to average.
Composing new songs for her are the likes of Neil Hannon which these days pretty much *is* The Divine Comedy, Rufus Wainwright, Beth Gibbons and a new generation of french musicians which give added power and rythm and poignant lyrics to the effort. Her cover of Alice by Tom Waits is eerie, haunting and highly effective. The Kate Bush cover more or less proves that no one is supposed to do that sort of thing but by going from immense vocal range to subtle phrasing she manages to salvage the song.
Highlights of the album are Home, Alice, Living In Limbo, Où Est La Ville and La Reine Sans Royaume.

10/10