Album Review: Carla Bruni's Little French Songs

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Album review: Carla Bruni's Little French Songs Kyle Doyle French Pop Music Examiner Little French Songs by Carla Bruni Released on April 1st, 2013, Little French Songs is Carla Bruni's fourth album and first release in almost five years. Before viewing the track listening, Little French Songs seems like it might be a cover album, but greets the audience with 10 originals and 1 fresh adaption by Bruni. The listener is immediately drawn in by the melancholic love song "J'arrive à toi," which so well embodies the nostalgia and romance found in traditional French chanson. The following tracks offer the best of all of Bruni's moods with songs like "Prière" and "Darling" echoing the nostalgia and calm found on Comme si de rien n'était (2008), while the delicious journey of "Chez Keith et Anita" and bounce of "Mon Raymond" provide the album with a little lift. Carla offers some edge with "Pas Une Dame," which almost seems to be the ex-First Lady's farewell from life at L'Élysée, reclaiming her freedom and asserting that she isn't much of a lady after all. "La valse posthume"offers something new from Carla, following in the footsteps of Serge Gainsbourg by adding lyrics to a waltz by Chopin. The overarching theme of Little French Songs seems to be a celebration of classic French chanson, in which Carla tries to appeal to both domestic and foreign audiences, embodied in the not-so-title track "Little French Song." Here, mixing French and English, Carla seems to be making a plea to the French audience to return to chanson and the sentiment it contains by extolling the the likes of Piaf, Barbara and Trenet, while also pandering to the exoticism and romanticism of foreign audiences, reminding them of how wherever in the world they may be French music can take them on a journey to Paris. The star song of the album is "Dolce Francia," Bruni's Italian adaptation of Charles Trenet's "Douce France," which is still so beloved by the French public. Carla's Italian version takes the nationalist sentiment of the original and allows it to be felt by francophiles and immigrants who may adopt France as their own. In some ways, "Dolce Francia" might be even more charming than the original. Whether or not Carla belongs in the pantheon of great French singers, with her sentimental and witty lyrics, this hommage to French chanson found on Little French Songs might be her most dolce effort yet. .

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Carla Bruni Announces New Album 434.61 Kb
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Album Review: Carla Bruni- Little French Songs Slant Magazine by Ted Scheinman Published on April 16, 2013
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