Charlotte Gainsbourg - '5:55'

does a record that's been released across the seas for months but just now released in america (with bonus trax!) constitute as a 2007 release? hmm, i'm not fully sure. while you think up an answer for me, i'll move on to talking about the cd itself.
i had no idea this chick sang stuff. she's the girl from the movies science of sleep and apparently 21 grams acccccorrrrrding to amazon, annnd the daughter of someone i'd apparently know if i were french..which i'm not. so whatever.
i'd probably be interested in hearing this cd if the only thing i knew about it was the album cover. me thinks it's pretty cool lookin, the name subtle and in the corner, and the combo of the b&w picture and her pose giving the impression that the music lying within would take the listener on a pretty intimate and/or mellow journey..and that's pretty accurate i suppose as long as we are talking solely about the music itself. the music here, from what i understand, is all provided by the band Air, who, as long as they stick to making sounds with instruments (and not singing on their own cds) are fantastic at what they do. and they do a fantastic job here. lush, gorgeous piano & string melodies are abound here (especially in 'tel que tu es'), and even when they pick up the pace a bit it still has the trademark air calm to it. lyrically it's all writen by jarvis cocker and some other dude i'd know if i knew who the divine comedy was, and for me, the lyrics are all pretty ehhhhhh whatever. but i don't think they're supposed to be the focal point here. that honor belongs to the vocal prowess of ms. gainsbourg. she's got a really light/airy/breathy style voice that is an amazing fit with air's music, and makes this album ridiculously listenable and enjoyable. honestly, she barely even does all that music actual "singing". instead, she does this little whisper talk sorta thing through most of the songs, and like i saiiiiid...it works well. i haven't given this record a ton of time so i can't really get terribly in depth with a review and i can't say if it'll be anywhere near my best-of list at the end of the year (if i even decide it's eligible), but for chill/night background music, this has proven to be a pretty rad addition to my collection.
notable tracks:
-'tel que to es'
-album closer 'morning song'
-and best option for a single (just cause i like picking that out in cds) - 'the songs that we sing'

i need to come up with a grading system.

out of 10? out of 5? out of 100%? letter grade? you tell me which you'd prefer.