Une enfant du siècle

Une enfant du siècle (in English: "a child of the century") is the fourth studio album by the French recording artist Alizée. The first one released under Jive Records/Epic label and her first French-English-Spanish language album. The full album leaked on to the Internet on 19 March 2010. The album was released in France on 29 March 2010. The album received positive reviews from critics, who praised the radical change and collaborations, but criticized the perceived lack of enthusiasm in her singing.^[1]^[2] Respondents praised the album for its mature nature, abstract and sober, the musical direction of Alizée, calling it her "most risky record".^[2]^[3]^[4] On the same day Alizée signed autographs at Virgin Megastore in Paris. The album is inspired by and depicts the life of Edie Sedgwick.

Background

The theme of the album is the life of the American model Edie Sedgwick since her birth to her death. With a base of a Andy Warhol style, his name is not mentioned in the lyrics but in all the album has references of him.

Edie Sedgwick (left) and Andy Warhol (right) are the prime influences of the album.

The musical style is a hard electronic pop, litmus between dark and light shades of colors fading together, outfitted with deep and abstract lyrics that make reference to the model's life and her influence in contemporary culture since its emergence in the media, art, politics and everything encompassed her and Warhol. In the lyrics is mentionated clearly Edie and is referred as Factory Girl, making a direct reference to the Waholian Factory (the factory of dreams), also is mentioned the NYC elite society and in some interviews the singer answer that she is also mention to the France and Paris elite. The Tiffany & Co 5th Avenue's boutique and the opinion of the policy class.

Tiffany & Co. of the Fifth Avenue (left) and New York City (right) are mentioned in the lyrics of the album.

Development

In the beginning of 2009, Alizée had to cancel a concert in France. Shortly after it she announced work on her future album, which would sound very different from all of her previous recordings. It was released in France on 29 March 2010.

London (left) and Paris (right) are the recorder cities of the album.

The album was recorded in Paris and London. British website Popjustice gave out that the first single is partially in English and it is called "Limelight". On 15 February 2010 they uploaded the full version of the song and a clip from the music video.^[5] However, it was later confirmed by Popjustice itself that "Limelight" was a teaser single, and the official single from Alizée's fourth album is "Les Collines (Never Leave You)".^[6]

The Collector's Edition of the album was made available for pre-order on 4 February 2010. It was sold only on her official website.

Promotion

Alizée in 2010 singing at Point Ephémère lounge, in Paris.

For the promotion of the album Alizée did a photo shoot for her album. She also posed on the French magazine Technikart, on which she was imitating Madonna from her single "Like a Virgin". A small showcase was held at Point Ephémère in Paris. She also participated in hommage to Serge Gainsbourg in Tel Aviv with cover version of Dis-lui toi que je t'aime by Vanessa Paradis, accompanied with the national orchestra at National Opéra Hall and another presentations with the Israeli singer Harel Skaat and other artist with whom she won the respect and affection of the country making this album a hit positioning itself at number one for two weeks on the Israeli charts after Israel's promotion.

Singles

Limelight was used as a teaser song for the album. The song is in English and is electro-pop in style. It was composed by Angy Laperdrix, Guillaume de Maria, Julien Galinier and Raphael Vialla. The single was only on sale in Poland.

Les collines (never leave you) (English: "the hills (never leave you)") released in 2010. Is the first single from the album. The single is electro-pop. It was composed by Angy Laperdrix, Guillaume de Maria, Julien Galinier and Raphael Vialla. The single was praised by critics^[7] telling it to be "The song and the album that gave new life to Alizée's career, a good buzz in radical change of style."^[8] The single mixes French and English lyrics as many French songs these day. The English is used as an effect to bring it more variety.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
SACEM/SNEP	Positive^[9]
Popjustice
Les Inrocks	Negative^[10]

Une enfant du siècle was met with positive reviews, some praising the album's production and ambition, but others also criticizing Alizée's perceived lack of interest in the project. The album was considered a commercial failure.

Track list

Complete track list:

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Éden, Éden"	Jean-René Etienne	Robin Coudert ("Rob")	4:22
2.	"Grand Central"	Jérôme Échenoz, Jean-René Etienne, Rebecca Zlotowski	Jerome Echenoz, David Stanzke ("Tahiti Boy")	3:24
3.	"Limelight"	"Chateau Marmont"	"Chateau Marmont" (Angy Laperdrix, Guillaume de Maria, Julien Galinier, Raphael Vialla)	5:09
4.	"La Candida"	Adan Jodorowsky (Adanowski)	Robin Coudert	2:14
5.	"Les Collines (Never Leave You)"	Jean-René Etienne	"Chateau Marmont"	3:43
6.	"14 décembre"	"Chateau Marmont"	"Chateau Marmont"	3:18
7.	"À cœur fendre"	Jean-René Etienne	"Chateau Marmont"	3:07
8.	"Factory Girl"	Jérôme Echenoz, Jean-René Etienne, David Behar ("David Rubato")	David Behar	4:11
9.	"Une fille difficile"	Jean-René Etienne	Jean-Baptiste de Laubier, "Chateau Marmont"	3:41
10.	"Mes fantômes"	Jean-René Etienne	Robin Coudert	3:16
Total length:				36:25

Personnel

Credits adapted from Une enfant du siècle liner notes.

Alizée - Artist and Chorus
Chateau Marmont - Producer
Partel Oliva - Artwork
Jean-René Etienne - Executive Producer
Nilesh Patel - Mastered
Jack Lahana & Rob - Mix

Strings:
- Arthur Boutiller (tracks: 1, 3, 7)
- Aurélie Lopez (tracks: 1, 3, 7)
- David Gabel (tracks: 1, 3, 7)
- Marie Friez (tracks: 1, 3, 7)
Camille Vivier - Photography

Chart performance

Une enfant du siècle entered the French Albums Chart at place 24 on 3 April 2010. On its second week, it fell down to place 69, spending only 2 weeks in the top 100 and 6 weeks in the top 200. It also peaked at place 13 on the digital chart but only spent 1 week in the top 50. In Mexico, the album started at place 22 and spent 5 weeks in the top 100, the first single peaked at the first place on the third week.

Weekly charts

Chart (2010)^[11]	Peak position
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)	60
French Albums Chart	24
Mexican Albums Chart	22
Russian Albums Chart	17

Certifications

Region	Certification
Israel	Gold^[11]

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format
France^[12]	29 March 2010	Jive Epic	CD, Digital download, Box Set, Limited Edition, Numbered CD, 5 × Vinyl, 7", Album, 45 RPM
United Kingdom	29 March 2010	Wisteria	CD, Digital download

References

Alizée

Discography Awards & Nominations

Studio albums	Gourmandises Mes Courants Électriques Psychédélices Une enfant du siècle 5 Blonde

Compilation albums	Tout Alizée

Live albums	Alizée En Concert

Singles	"Moi... Lolita" "L'Alizé" "Parler tout bas" "Gourmandises" "J'en ai marre!" "J'ai pas vingt ans" "À contre-courant" "Mademoiselle Juliette" "Fifty-Sixty" "La Isla Bonita" "Les collines (Never Leave You)" "Limelight" "À cause de l'automne" "Je veux bien" "Blonde"

Featured singles	Des Ricochets Clara veut la Lune Dear Darlin'

Tours	En Concert Tour (2003-2004) Psychédélices Tour (2008)

Book

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