8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fresh pop album and mesmerizing voice, June 9, 2005
This review is from: Luminescence (Audio CD)
Anggun had a hit a couple a years ago with `La neige au Sahara', I also remembered her for `La rose des vents' and her participation to a DJ electro-jazz project 2 years ago. I was therefore surprise to hear from her after so long with `Etre une femme', first single taken from this new album. I must say it ended up a nice surprise as this album is one of my favourite French albums of 2005 so far.
`Etre une femme' (two versions on the album, the solo/single/radio version and another one featuring rapper Diam's) will remind you of Truth Hurts `Addictive': it mixes oriental vibes with r'n'b rhythm. The lyrics is about being feminine without being misunderstood by men, it is a sort of declaration of independence. The result is rather catchy and will get you to shake those hips, but does not reflect the rest of the album.
There are a couple of beautiful ballads on the album. `C'est écrit'/`Painted' is a power ballad about how love can be written in the stars, written by Anggun in English and adapted by Lionel Florence in French. `Nous avions des ailes' is a breathy ballad, full of tenderness and very dreamy, a little bit melancholic maybe, one of my favourite tracks. `Un de toi' is an almost acoustic ballad about 2 becoming 3, how a couple turns into family. `Sur les cendres' is a grand ballad, with lyrical flight of strings - a true romantic number. `D'où l'on vient' is maybe more an album filler, even is the chorus gets you singing along.
`L'improbable cours des choses' is maybe my absolute favourite. The lyrics are signed Anggun and the music Tété, a folk singer nominated to Victoires de la Musique 2004. It has a cool rhythm that get you snapping fingers - think Jack Johnson.
Then Anggun unleashes the electric guitars on a couple of numbers: `Captivité'/ `Captivity', `Devil in my mind', `Human' (the intro sounding a little bit funky, a la Lenny Kravitz, gets me crazy), `Cesse la pluie' (announced as second single), all of them bringing a great upbeat, rocky feel to the album. I always get a little wild when playing those in my car.
I really enjoyed the album as a whole, and I really got into Anggun raspy and very distinctive voice. Just a good French pop album!
This edition comes with a bonus DVD. You will get 'Etre Une femme' video and a short presentation of the album, with interviews of Anggun, Diam's and Tété (in French) about working on this project.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Album, October 27, 2005
With each new release Anggun (pronounced un-goon) gets better and better. This is the English version of her French release of the album of the same name. She co-wrote all tracks in both English and French, which is amazing. This CD is hard to categorize. It's pop with rock influences. There are plenty of ballads but my favorite tracks are the up tempo "In Your Mind" which has a funky Eastern Indian vibe and wild percussion, and the very pop-radio sounding "Devil In My Mind" which is just a great fun song. The single "Undress Me" and "Savior" are also great, with "Savior" having a great rock vibe. My other favorite track is "Evil & Angel" which is a mid-tempo Alanis-esque intropsective type song.
If you like exploring new types of music and especially world music, I highly recommend this album and Anggun. This album doesn't really have a vibe that I totally would put in the "world" music category, it's pop. But there is an Eastern Indian vibe on a few track and overall, as with all of Anggun's music, she borrows from all genres.
The CD contains several bonus tracks including an extended version and Indian remix of "In Your Mind", as well as several different versions of the Bahasa language version of "Savior" called "Mantra".
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the great voice from Asia is back, April 4, 2005
Anggun, the Indonesian-born French singer, is best known for her first single "Snow on the Sahara", but she consistently proves she sings more than world music or ethnic touch sounds--her voice has a lived-in grace (in indonesian, her full name means grace born out of dreams!) that you don't hear from a lot of competitive french divas. Her third french album celebrates Anggun's freedom with a powerful voice, classic-minded variant on her pop rock and ballads.
With its oriental touch, "Etre une femme" (being a woman, or "In your mind" for the future english title) puts a dance groove in this album,
and the funkier "Human" reminds the rock&roll era.
With "Nous avion des ailes" and "Cesse la pluie" provide future hits, Anggun is more remarkable for its cristal-clear voice.
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