Arielle Dombasle
Amor Amor
(Wrasse Records)

Campy is the first word that comes to the mind on the first listen of the French actress and model's latest foray into music. A second take will reel you in, softly and languorously, transporting you to a fantasy dinner party in 1920s Mexico where guests Pablo Neruda, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, drink highballs, smoke homemade cigars and explore existentialism, love and its demons, poetry and revolutions. The sultry chanteuse successfully delves into her Mexican childhood with classics like "Cuando Calienta El Sol" and "Quizas Quizas Quizas," a duet with Julio Iglesias. The result of this throwback gem is a lush, mysterious and tres sexy album---a perfect mood-setter for a hip Latino New York soiree

-by Sandra Guzman