The Long awaited 7th Studio Album. Sultry chansons d'amour...prepare to be spun on your axis by her wildly successful rebirth as a husky chanteuse."Uncut

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Product Description

Belinda Carlisle has followed an interesting trajectory over the years, from youthful garage punk to new wave-pop diva (fronting the Go-Gos) to adult contemporary solo artist. Given her many phases, it shouldn't be too much of a curveball to learn that VOILA, Carlisle's first solo album in 10 years, is an homage to the French chanson tradition. Yet it's somehow odd to hear Carlisle singing entirely in French, and taking on the songs of Edith Piaf, Francoise Hardy, and Serge Gainsbourg.
But Carlisle pulls the project off with panache: VOILA is executed with sophistication and skill. The excellent selection of material is the bedrock of the album (Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas", for example, is a highlight), but the genre-splicing arrangements, and guests like Brian Eno and Hothouse Flowers, keep things fresh. Still, it's Carlisle's show, and her interpretations of these French classics make this unique album a worthy listen.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Ma Jeunesse Fout Le Camp
2. Bonnie Et Clyde
3. Avec Le Temps
4. Sous Le Ciel De Paris
5. Des Ronds Dans L'Eau
6. Pourtant Tu M'aimes
7. Ne Me Quitte Pas
8. La Vie En Rose
9. Contact
10. Merci Cherie
11. Jezebel

Disc 2:

1. I Still Love Him
2. La Vie En Rose
3. Bonnie and Clyde
4. If You Go Away

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57777 in Music
• Released on: 2007-02-05
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Limited Edition
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

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Customer Reviews

Buy this CD and a 2CV
Just one word to describe this CD- WOW! I was a bit worried at first that Belinda wouldn't be able to pull a French singing CD off, but this is just great. Particular high points have to be "Bonnie Et Clyde", listen to it a few times first then listen to the English version on the bonus UK CD, then listen to it again- it gets cooler the more you hear it. Then "Contact", such a wierd song but the more I hear it, the more I keep wandering around shouting "CONTACT!" at random intervals (or "Kumquat" as my wife insists on singing) and finally "Poutant Tu M'aimes"- this could be a single, it's that catchy. Then to discover the English version on the bonus CD, that really is a bonus. The highpoint of the whole experience? Driving along in my Citroen 2CV with the songs blasting in my ears, singing unintelligable French words at the top of my voice. Not sure my passengers approved though....

Magical and beautiful
The unmistakable sultry vibrato of Belinda Carlisle transports you away to a another world. The first track "Ma jeunesse fout le camp" takes you through a door to a magical French landscape, you then work your way through hypnotic classics, each with a Belinda-esque contemporary slant. The quality of Ms Carlisles voice shines through - and the bonus disk includes English track versions and extras, revealing her pop upbringing.

Don't under estimate Le Carlisle
This album is fanfreakingtastic. I can only guess at the accuracy of Belinda's pronunciation but it doesn't matter here. Whatever she is singing about is brimming with emotion and conviction. The album has an essentially pop feel to it but there is a nice diversity of music here. It has a very honest, earthy feel tinged with electronic modernity. Listening to this must certainly be the modern day equivalent of watching a Godard film during the French New Wave.

The team, which includes John Reynolds as Producer, and Brian Eno, Natacha Atlas, and Sharon Shannon as session artists, et al, has infused East Indian sounds into the western melodies creating a beautiful, trance-like quality; most evident on "Ma Jeunesse Fout Le Camp"

How do you credibly remake "La Vie En Rose"? Give it a beatnik inspired bongo beat, layer Belinda's stadium quality vocals on the chorus, revisit the transcendental East Indian warble and make what had better be marketed as the next big club hit! I dare you not to have visions of Grace Kelly in her convertible gliding through Monte Carlo as thousands of doves swarm the twilight skies when you listen to this.

I don't know exactly what's happening to the poor girl in "Ne Me Quitte Pas" but it's powerful. If her man doesn't have roses in his hand when he comes home- he'd better stay gone. Belinda has gone beyond singing pop music and entered musical storytelling. Forget tracing a "Circle in the Sand". Drive your Citroen off that "Emotional Highway". These are real feelings, raw and visceral resonations.

Don't let the soft opening fool you, "Des Ronds Dans L'eau" is catchy, funky, and beautiful. Of special note are the very French feeling accordion, the pulsing synth sound evoking a bubble machine and, of course, the interesting juxtaposition of Belinda's vocals snapping from a sense of resignation to dictator-like zeal. (The guitar strums in the opening sound remarkably like the opening to her last single, "All God's Children".)

Tilt my beret and butter my croissant! "Sous Le Ciel De Paris" couldn't be more French. Belinda's "mmm hmmms" have a certain je ne se quoi (did I spell that right?) that smacks of artsy fartsy, Foucault inspired, intellectual elitism. Kudos to whoever thought up the Les Miserable chorus- Vive La Revolution! The chanting legion is brilliantly place over a backdrop of a mysterious and uniquely French sounding "circus on the moon" style rhythms.

"Jezebel" sounds like a stagecoach robbery would feel. If you aren't sweating after hearing this, you aren't human. There are amazing Spanish guitars on this number. Do I hear that French accordion again? An inspired blend- seriously. The gunshot evoking "clap clap clap" adds drama and, of course, Belinda is storytelling again. There is massive energy coming from her voice. You can feel the frenzy in her last "Jez- ah- bel-l-l-l" which leaves her spent as the last breath leaves her throat.

"Merci Cherie" is beautiful, emotional and well executed. Of particular note is the snare drum. Dropped over that fabulous accordion it brings an emotional resolve to the song that serves it well.

Remember Audrey Hepburn contorting her body to the hip beatnik rhythms in "Funny Face"? Funk that up with a shiny, silver, skin-tight spacesuit and hang out with Carlos Castaneda to truly understand "Contact". What a cool song. No idea what the original was like but this spacey, echoy, dusty vinyl sound with click track is very catchy.

"Pourtant Tu M'aimes" is a sort of 'best of the rest'. All the great parts of the other songs come together here with a syncopated beat. It opens with a groovy, minimalist interpretation of contstructivist factory sounds and becomes a fully produced, rock styled pop song. This may offend some, but... This is the most Go-Go's friendly track. Not that there has to be one, but can't you just hear Jane in the background; Kathy grinding that bass. Charlotte gets to pull out the keyboard (can she play the accordion?) and Gina could drive the hell out of this number in place of the click track. Do it y'all!

"Avec Le Temps" is a dream. It's lilting and spiritual. The strings and xylophone provide an ethereal backdrop, which ebbs and swells creating a gentle passage of time hinting at eternity but ultimately hindered by mortality. The squishy echoes help deepen the space and, with the right sound system, would make a very cool planetarium experience. Belinda, were you crying when you sang this? **sniff** I bet you were.

"Bonnie Et Clyde"! What fresh Bel(inda) this is! This is another example of Belinda's obvious work paying off. I imagine there is a bit of credit due to John Reynolds here too, but listen to her opening script- She pulls the listener in as a unique blend of sex kitten and master of ceremonies. Don't quite understand the jungle sounds in the background but they work. Guess it's part of the East Indian thing- love it. Everyone say it with me- "Bah-knee and Cly-y-deh"
Very Belinda, that delivery.

Vive "Voila!" ;)