Carla Bruni
French Touch
Release Date: Oct 6, 2017
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, French Pop
Record label: Verve
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Album Review: French Touch by Carla Bruni
Fairly Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Though born in Italy, few in the popular imagination could seem more French than Carla Bruni. You don’t even have to hear French Touch to know what it’s going to sound like; for her fifth album, Bruni sings popular music standards (in English) as if they were chanson, all intoned from a pavement cafe with a Breton-topped, bereted wearing backing band boasting at least one string of onions. Produced by David Foster, it’s largely tremendous fun, even if the path on which it walks is rather well worn. French Touch works best when the songs are delivered with a wink; Stand By Your Man cannot be listened to without thinking of Bruni’s time as French First Lady, at her husband Nicolas Sarkozy’s side.
Based on rating 7/10
As a singer and songwriter, Carla Bruni usually follows the labyrinthine tracks in French music established by artists such as Georges Brassens, Jane Birkin, and Pierre Barouh. Therefore, cutting a collection of standards from rock, pop, and jazz might seem out of character. The songs on French Touch are those Bruni sang and played on the guitar between the ages of nine and 29.
Based on rating 2/5
Although Carla Bruni is probably best known in the UK as the wife of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the ex-supermodel has been a pop star in France for 20 years. Here, singing in English, she brings trademark smoky, breathy vocals to an impeccable range of covers ranging from well-worn standards (Moon River, Stand By Your Man) to less predictable personal favourites (Depeche Mode.
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