1960s, Hardy sought to reinvent herself, beginning by casting off the fashionable girl next door image that Périer had created for her. In an effort to reflect her inner self to a greater extent, the singer also abandoned the "cute" and catchy compositions that had characterized her repertoire up to that point. In the albums that immediately preceded La question, Hardy had begun to work with more accomplished songwriters such as Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, and Patrick Modiano. In 1970, she founded the production company Hypopotam, and its first album, Soleil, was released the same year. Development Towards the early 1970s, Hardy met Valeniza Zagni da Silva - known by the pseudonym Tuca - a Brazilian singer and guitarist based in Paris, who performed every night at a Brazilian restaurant called La Feijoada. They met through Lena, another Brazilian woman based in Paris and an intimate friend of the singer. Lena comforted Hardy as she went through a "[tormenting]" period caused by instabilities in her relationship with fellow musician Jacques Dutronc. Among the personnel listed on the album's liner notes, the name "Pinocchio" is credited as "catalyzer". This period also marked the beginning of Hardy's renowned involvement with astrology, partly also thanks to the support of the Brazilian. Tuca and Hardy connected very well; the singer later described their meeting as "love at first sight, personally and artistically speaking." After attending the Festival Internacional da Canção in Rio de Janeiro – and having come into contact with the music of Brazil – Hardy decided to work with Tuca. The singer was particularly infatuated with "Même sous la pluie", a song Tuca had made for another artist but eventually gave to Hardy. Tuca wound up composing the music for all but one song in the album, "Doigts", and rehearsed them with Hardy every day for a month before entering the studio. This was an atypical process for Hardy, as "all [her] previous albums were developed in the studio, leaving no time for [the singer] to work with the composer and explore different interpretive paths." She recorded the album with Tuca on guitar, Guy Pedersen on bass, and Bernard Estardy behind the console, finishing each track after three takes. At the time of the recording, Tuca was also suffering from an unrequited love that would shape the album's content, as she wanted to be with the Italian actress Lea Massari, who was