Posted on 08/27/2008
Carla Bruni’s quietly beautiful music belies her modeling and rock star accessory past. Assuming the Julie Andrews role on most of the album, the Italian-born first lady of France has not let her new rank stop her from continuing her music career, but perhaps allowed it to stifle anything remotely mistaken for exciting from coming out on this third release.

Bruni’s breathy singing is light and elegant – the perfect companion for a warm summer’s day road trip through the back roads of the French countryside. Oh, if only she sang in English! People say all the time that they’re ‘listening’ to a song, but that usually entails listening and comprehending, which, unless you parle francais (or Italian in the case of the album’s closer “Il Vecchio e il Bambino”), will not be an option with this album (yes, even the liner notes are in French). So here’s the test, with understanding her words being out of the window, you only have the music by which to judge. Unfortunately, she goes the easy listening route for the majority of the album with the same understated strings, non-aggressive brushed drums and occasional piano stroke guaranteed to lull you to sleep if her detached vocals don’t accomplish it first.

“Tu Es Ma Came” is a sultry, yet playful blues number accompanied by deliberate guitar plucks and moaning double bass. In a similar vein is “Le Temps Perdu,” a song that induces hip swaying thanks to the most fervor the drums are allowed on the entire album. The lilting harmonica and gentle piano create an entrancing lullaby on “Salut Marin” quickly followed by the fun bossa nova of “Ta Tienne,” the one time Bruni raises her voice from a coo to a hurried whisper. The only English language entry on the album is a hoarse cover of “You Belong to Me” done too well, too many other times to overcome the weakness of this attempt.

The album’s title translated is As If Nothing Happened. Too bad its lasting effect lives up to that characterization - you can go on about your business as if you never even heard it.

- Candace L.