Defend its Existence

MUSIC

Carla Bruni

By Caralyn Green

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Aug. 13, 2008

Carla Bruni
Comme Si de Rien N'Etait (Downtown)

Imagine Laura releasing an album about lovin' Dubya, or Michelle writing songs about what Barack's like in bed. We wouldn't know how to react. Intrigue? Horror? We really don't have to figure it out, though, because this will never, ever happen. We like our politicians' sexuality implied here in the States, but always sterilized, never the fodder for sweet, folky pop that puts you in the mood for a shared bubble bath, nuzzled whispers and bottle of champagne that tickles between lips and legs.

Not France, though. It's different there, you see.

In France the president is married to Carla Bruni, the most perfectly pedigreed and proportioned ex-supermodel/current musician who just happens to have released her new album Comme Si de Rien N'Etait (translation: As If Nothing Happened) mere months into the something big that happened--going monogamous with one of the most powerful men in the world.

The album is lovely. It's breezy, breathy, charming retropop that gently melds bedroom intimacy with coffeehouse acoustics, and tops it off with lightly bluesy world beats that'd be annoying if only it didn't all feel quite so organic (yes, that's jazz flute you hear in "Ta tienne," which only complements the mandolin and fiddle of "L'antilope"). Comme Si de Rien N'Etait is, as it should be, sung almost entirely in French with the exception of bits of Italian and the oft-covered "You Belong to Me," which is sure to end up on many a mushy mixtape.

Bruni's gotten comparisons to Jane Birkin, Fran�ois Hardy and a gaggle of other Gainsbourg gals, but that feels wrong, a bit too obvious and weighty and dated. What Bruni's doing is modern--more along the lines of Keren Ann, Zo� Avril and Loane than anything so, well, old.

Would Carla Bruni's music being getting nearly this much attention if she didn't happen to be the most engaging First Lady since Evita Per�n or Jackie O.? Probably not. Just be thankful she is.