Who makes the best music, Carla Bruni or Mrs Sarkozy?

Cover of her new album by J.B Mondino.

Bruni fans got to listen to the French first lady's third album for the first time on Wednesday when it was made available on her website. The velvet voice and romantic prattle is back, but can you really listen to her without thinking about... Sarko? Read more...

"Comme si de rien n'était" (As if nothing happened) is officially out as of today, but French bloggers and journalists have been talking about it for weeks. It's already landed Bruni in trouble with one of the songs "You're my drug", provoking criticism from Colombian diplomats who found offence in the metaphorical lyrics "You are my drug. More lethal than heroin from Afghanistan and more dangerous than Colombian white". Since Wednesday, however, curious critics have finally been able to turn their focus to its musical qualities. That is, of course, if they signed up to her site www.carlabruni.com. And then they only got two hours... before the connection was cut.

"I'm bored of this singsong voice"

Thien runs the blog ‘A sushi in my bed". An avid music fan, she listened to the album out of curiosity.

I wanted to have listened to it before I cast it off. But it is bad. There is a need for this type of music; when it comes to pop folk the French scene is a bit lacking. You can see she does have a talent for writing, which is why she was successful in the first place.

The problem is a lack of interpretation. I think I'm getting bored of this singsong voice. And that's not to mention her massacring Bob Dylan's "You Belong To Me". Two hours of listening to the album for free, well, that's plenty. Once is enough."

"People are waiting for her to slip-up"

Christophe Schenk runs a blog dedicated to music. He works as a journalist in Switzerland (L'Hebdo)and met Carla for the release of her third album.

From what I'd heard, I thought she'd be someone very laid back. But when I met her, I could tell that she was choosing her words very carefully, even in an interview that was solely about her music.

When I listened to the album I really tried to do so objectively, especially as I did actually enjoy the first one. But I found the music too prearranged and the end result was not as fresh.

It's very hard to separate her role as first lady from her career as an artist, and the media is only going to stir it up more. For those who liked her first album, they're waiting to see if this one will be as good (the second was just poems sung in English). People are waiting for her to slip-up, and the media could go either way if it happens.

That said, she can be surprising too. We can't forget how shocked we were when she suddenly announced that she was reinventing herself as a singer. She was seen as another top model looking for a new career, but in the end she sold almost two million albums."