Carla Bruni - "Carla Bruni" - This eponymous album is the reflection of Carla Bruni herself, a wholehearted embracing of her true self. Always sensitive, with emotions on the surface at times, the music of the album bears witness to a unique temperament and avoids ostentation. Through it we can sense a desire for a calm simplicity, free from glitter and arrogance. That's probably because the production of these songs was planned well before anyone set foot in the recording studio. Guitar, piano, a bit of foot-tapping and fragments of melody are the foundation of all the tracks, recorded behind closed doors with Albin de la Simone, who produced the entire album. For his first collaboration with Carla Bruni, the multi-instrumentalist - one of the very best on the French scene in the past 20 years - was determined to give her new songs the most delicate treatment. Listening to the new manifesto, "Carpe Diem", you can't help but regain a strong sense of the present moment. And this is what's so disarming about Bruni's songs: the intimacy, the simplicity, in a spirit of freedom, friendship and love. Compact Disc

14-track CD album - Carla Bruni has always had a certain poetry. A definite je ne sai quoi. The grace, style & beauty of this Italian-born, France-raised thirty-something is legendary; her intellect & vitality striking, even formidable. Now as the first lady of France, Carla Bruni is one of the most photographed women of the world but she doesn't want this to affect people's perception of her or her music. She wants the music to speak for itself and here it does.