There’s something about French pop music (as opposed to French rock music) that makes it instantly endearing and irresistibly appealing to English-speaking ears. Newcomer Carla Bruni has been likened to a whole range of sultry chanteuses, including Nico and Françoise Hardy, as well as international stylists of the calibre of Edie Brickell and Emmylou Harris. But on the evidence of her debut album, the former supermodel (and one time beau of Jagger and Clapton) is very much her own woman. Even though she wasn’t taken seriously at first in France she has since notched up sales of a million and is fast becoming a star further afield.
Singing entirely in French over mainly acoustic, folksy backing, the husky-voiced Bruni quietly gets under your skin with quirky, affecting numbers like the title track (which will be familiar to some thanks to growing airplay in these parts). Of the rest of the dozen or so original songs penned by Bruni, ‘Tout Le Monde’, ‘Chanson Triste’ and ‘Lamour’ stand out, as does a version of Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘La Noyee’. If ‘Les Plus Beau Du Quartier’ sounds even more familiar it’s probably down to the guitar riff, which is nicked wholesale from the Loving Spoonful’s ‘What A Day For A Daydream’.
Haven’t a clue what she’s on about most of the time but it sounds to these ears like the perfect accompaniment to a late night candlelit dinner.
Funny thing is – she’s actually Italian!