Ima's fourth album,
A la Vida!, is an ornately produced collection of international pop standards, most of which date back to the 1960s and '70s. Her previous album,
Smile (2007), was similarly comprised, featuring mostly French-language standards along with a little bit of original material. It was likewise produced by
Guy St-Onge.
Ima's vocals are once again front and center, backed by subtle string arrangements and light Latin rhythms. There isn't much differentiating
A la Vida! from its predecessor other than the choice of standards. The album opens strongly with tropical-inflected versions of
Véronique Sanson's "Drôle de Vie" and
Paula Moore's "Valparaiso," the latter of which is the first of two English-language songs featured on the album. The other is
Kris Kristofferson's "Me & Bobby Mcgee," a great country-rock song that isn't a good fit for
Ima's vocal style. Elsewhere on
A la Vida!, there are a couple of songs associated with
the Beatles that are adapted to French: the 1966 favorite "Here There and Everywhere" and
Mary Hopkin's 1968 hit "Those Were the Days," which was originally produced by
Paul McCartney. Another French-language adaptation is "Yeux Ouverts," a version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Highlights among the French standards include
Edith Piaf's "À Quoi Ça Sert l'Amour,"
Claude Nougaro's "Tu Verras," and
Salvatore Adamo's "Mourir dans Tes Bras." Other standouts include a version of
Tomás Méndez's "Cucurrucucú Paloma." Sung in Spanish by
Ima, the Mexican standard is often associated nowadays with Brazilian singer/songwriter
Caetano Veloso's memorable performance of it in the
Pedro Almodóvar film Talk to Her (2002).
A la Vida! also includes a couple originals, most notably "Matin," a charming song written by
St-Onge. Too bad there wasn't more original material like this. The cover material is well selected but occasionally too familiar.