France's First Lady Carla Bruni Still Committed to Her Music

Former supermodel and singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, wife of French president Nicholas Sarkozy is set to release a new album in July, as reported by Vogue. The press is treating the news as a bit of shocker that she would continue to record her music, rather than 'just be' First Lady.

But please, would the woman who posed for a Spanish magazine wearing nothing but thigh-high black leather boots and a wedding band, while engaged to Sarkozy, be content with accompanying her husband on state tours, smiling politely, muting her personality and dressing ambassador-appropriate? She's no Jackie O (well, she did channel her look when they came to the UK but that's where the comparison ends!). Carla Bruni has always done what (and who) she wants and she's not stopping any time soon (referring to the 'what' only here of course).

According to The Guardian, the album will be called Comme Si de Rien n'Etait (As if Nothing Had Happened) after a picture by Carla's photographer brother who died two years ago. Her agent, Bertrand de Labbey, told Vogue that "Ninety-five per cent of the songs on the album were written before she met the president," which may be handy knowledge considering she sings about her 'dope' or 'junk' (so it's not referring to Sarkozy but drugs, apparently. He he).

I can't wait. I've noticed the North American press seems to be naming song titles in English but after looking into it I've (gleefully) found this will indeed be a French-language album, as was her first and absolutely beautiful 2002 release Quelqu'un m'a dit. My two year-old daughter falls to sleep with it every night (she calls her Carla Bloonie). Her second, 2007's No Promises was recorded in English as she wrote the music for lyrics taken from the famous works of American and British poets. Still well worth checking out (see the You Tube promo here) but there's nothing more lovely to listen to than songs in French. See the sidebar for her Tout Le Monde video.