Not your usual French music.

Yannick Noah was first well known as a top-10 tennis player. Sandrine Kiberlain was (and still is) a well-known French actress.  Both of them have smooth voices, know how to choose songs that fit their voices, and surround themselves with tasteful and appropriate musicians. Both have released very popular, enjoyable, and listenable CDs--whether you speak a word of French or not.

Today's show is a sampling from both artists.

Sandrine's voice is soft and airy--not in the French chanteuse style of Edith Grande Dame Piaf or Celine Neon Dion. Hers is simple, clean and very feminine. So are the songs.

Yannick's sound is also smooth. He surrounds his voice with a Caribbean-influenced band, and keeps the sound plain and clean.

(don't forget a bonus track from the co-star of "Midnight in Paris"--Carla Bruni, who also sometimes dabbles as the first lady of France)

You can enjoy the show whether you understand what they're singing, though it will be even more enjoyable if you do. Personally, I'm somewhere in between: I understand enough to be dangerous.

So for example: in "Placebo" Sandrine is clearly saying something clever and funny, but I can't quite translate it. Feel free to tell me.