No Promises - Carla Bruni

A French-Italian ex super model sets music to 11 classic poems, including works by the likes of WB Yeats, Emily Dickinson, WH Auden and Dorothy Parker. Not exactly the most thrilling of prospects on paper is it?

Yet in practise Carla Bruni has managed to do what her one time love Mick Jagger hasn't done for a good 20 years or so; that is put together a consistently good album.

It's packed with highlights and in fact is often so good that you forget that she's singing old poetry. Particularly good are her versions of Dorothy Parker's "Afternoon" and Yeats' "Those Dancing Days Are Gone" but there's little that doesn't captivate you.

For comparison's sake you could say it's like Charlotte Gainsbourg covering Cohen, and if it can sometimes get a little pedestrian and one-paced that doesn't detract too much from what is pretty much a constant delight. Sometimes things that seem so wrong on paper can end up sounding so right; this is definitely one of those occasions.