WTF: Belinda Carlisle is releasing a French cover album with Brian Eno and Natascha Atlas

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Taking a page from the Marianne Faithfull playbook, Belinda Carlisle exchanges exuberance for sophistication on Voilà. Sung entirely in French, Carlisle's first CD in a decade celebrates the sturdy song form known as chanson. From the legendary Edith Piaf ("La Vie En Rose") to '60s songbird François Hardy ("Ma Jeunesse Fout Le Camp") to playful provocateur Serge Gainsbourg ("Contact"), Carlisle tackles 11 favorites. If Faithfull's Strange Weather, a torched-up collection of covers, makes perfect sense in retrospect, Voilà also seems like a natural progression for Carlisle, though some Go-Go's devotees may be startled by the departure. More surprising than her accent, which is actually quite good, are the arrangements, like Gainsbourg's "Bonnie et Clyde" reinvented as echoey electronica or Hardy's "Pourtant Tu M'aimes" as hard-driving pop. Carlisle's versatile collaborators include Brian Eno (keyboards), Natacha Atlas (vocals), and Fianchna O'Braonain (guitar, vocals) from the Hothouse Flowers. Traditionalists may balk at the Irish and Middle Eastern touches, but Carlisle's genuine affection for the material should win over most skeptics. Her distinctive vibrato, particularly on Jacques Brel's heartbreaking "Ne Me Quitte Pas" ("If You Go Away") and Charles Aznavour's flamenco-flavored "Jezebel," has never sounded quite so full and throaty. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

I expect this to be atrocious.

― is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Thursday, 8 February 2007 11:30 (eighteen years ago)

How has anyone Out Of The Hothouse Flowers managed to make a living these past fifteen years?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 8 February 2007 11:38 (eighteen years ago)

I heard her cover of Bonnie et Clyde, it was actually ok.

― leigh (leigh), Thursday, 8 February 2007 11:48 (eighteen years ago)

The album's pretty good, in fact. I interviewed her about it; she was a nice middle-aged housewife.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Thursday, 8 February 2007 11:55 (eighteen years ago)

this seems fun. not sure I'll bother listening to it though.

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 8 February 2007 12:20 (eighteen years ago)

Not the Republican Nazi she used to be? (xpost)

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 8 February 2007 12:24 (eighteen years ago)

Is that the reason why "vacation" was the soundtrack of "fahrenheit 9/11" ? hum...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 8 February 2007 12:37 (eighteen years ago)

This cannot be any worse than Carla Bruni tackling Auden, Yeats and Dickinson.

― zebedee (zebedee), Thursday, 8 February 2007 12:48 (eighteen years ago)

I'm a bit curious about 'Contact', I have to admit.

― is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Thursday, 8 February 2007 13:41 (eighteen years ago)

also, "ne me quitte pas" is a pretty challenging one.

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 8 February 2007 14:13 (eighteen years ago)

Nina Simone's version, great as it is, is certainly challenging in terms of received notions of pitch!

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 8 February 2007 14:15 (eighteen years ago)

Full live streaming is here. I quite like it in small doses - although she's no shon-tooze, and the voice does start grating after a while. Favourite track is the campy, disco-fied take on La Vie En Rose, featuring Natasha Atlas on backing vocals.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 8 February 2007 14:17 (eighteen years ago)

Thanks. 'Contact' sounds like Lydia Lunch

― is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Thursday, 8 February 2007 14:25 (eighteen years ago)

My god, this is a real disaster. 'Ne me quitte pas' is spectacularly awful.

― is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Thursday, 8 February 2007 14:37 (eighteen years ago)

I don't think it's that awful. The version of "La Vie En Rose" is a little too over the top, but uh, so is Edith Piaf.

― ng-unit (ng-unit), Thursday, 8 February 2007 18:32 (eighteen years ago)

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