Divinidylle

Vanessa Paradis
Barclay

I thought of writing this review entirely in French, but that would be clever, and Paradis doesn't seem interested in mere cleverness. She evokes French pop of the 60s and early 70s without the irony of, say, the high-concept cover band Nouvelle Vague. As an international success and the partner of Johnny Depp, she ought to be feeling a little smug; but this album is all sincerity, which is exactly why it works. Paradis's little-girl voice can sound thin, but it's well suited for this m?lange of simple structures, soaring choruses, and lots of la-la-las. It's vaguely retro but with enough contemporary touches to make the disc interesting. Electric guitars are prominent on a lot of the tracks, for instance, while others - like the charming "Les Piles" and aptly titled "Irresistiblement" - have a country and western flavor thanks to bouncy banjos and mournful harmonicas, and I swear the dramatic "La Bataille" begins with the opening chords of "Stonehenge" before turning into a groovy freakout. Surtout, c'est si bon.