Tina Arena's 7 Vies

Tina Arena is as prolific as she is talented, releasing two albums in as many months. Despite only hitting shelves in December, "Songs Of Love & Loss" proved to be one of Australia's highest selling albums of 2007. Obviously not content with re-establishing herself as a major musical force at home, Tina swiftly returned her focus to the French market - unveiling "7 Vies" on the 28th of January. If the success of the album's first single on French iTunes is any indication, "7 Vies" looks like being every bit as successful in France as "Songs Of Love & Loss" was in Australia. What an astonishing period in an already brilliant career!

I have to come clean and admit that I wasn't hugely impressed by Tina's first French album. I always had the sneaking suspicion that she was positioning herself as the Antipodean Celine Dion - all big ballads and flowing gowns. My copy of "7 Vies" hasn't arrived yet but it already strikes me as being a massive step in the right direction. I love all the clips I've heard online and the album's first single, "Entends-Tu Le Monde?" takes up where Tina's best French single (the exquisite "Je m'appelle Baghdad") left off - by exploring a fresh and original world music sound. Like "Je m'appelle Bagdad", "Entends-Tu Le Monde?" is a beautifully produced song with an intricately woven Eastern influence. The video clip doesn't quite match the visual feast of the former anthem but "Entends-Tu Le Monde?" is still charmingly atmospheric (check it out below).

To my knowledge, there are no plans to release "7 Vies" in Australia. However, you can order the album from CD WOW for under $20(AUD). Just click on the Australian flag and search for Tina. Clips of all songs can be heard on French Amazon. I'm particularly looking forward to hearing "Ta Vie" in full. If I'm not mistaken it's a French interpretation of "Until" from "Songs Of Love & Loss". I can't wait to see what Tina does next!