Françoise Hardy's first record of the '80s was, like the last of the '70s, produced by
Gabriel Yared.
Hardy's songs were mostly ballads, and if they possessed more character than the great majority of the era's French pop, they still rarely made much of an impression. The opener "Jazzy Retro Satanas" is one of the exceptions to the ballads rule, a breezy up-tempo number that moved from shades of jazzy improv to sleek, brassy disco with a complement of shrieking backing vocalists. "Bosse Bossez Bossa" was one of the weakest songs she had ever recorded, an annoyingly repetitive toss-off that mentions the bossa nova nearly every five seconds yet never references it musically.
Françoise Hardy was still capable of brilliance -- "Si C'est Vraiment Vraiment Vrai" is one of her few strong ballads of the era -- but the bland arrangements and weak material foiled most of her attempts at artistry. ~ John Bush