Voila (Bonus CD)

Belinda Carlisle's "Voila," her first new album in a decade, and her first sung entirely in French, is a radical departure for the pop diva and leader of the Go-Gos. Carlisle has fashioned an album that pays tribute to classic French songs of the `40s, `50s and `60s and proves good songs are universal and need no translation to work their exhilarating magic.

"Voila" contains a bonus disc with English versions of four tracks from the album. Bonus tracks include "I Still Love Him," "La Vie en Rose," "Bonnie and Clyde" and "If You Go Away."

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