are certainly analogues with Nick Drake, in their personalities, voices and even a similar taste in chords and harmony." This led Joe Boyd to propose that the English musician write an album of songs for her, which would be produced by Tony Cox. Although Drake and Hardy met several times, including a visit to her recording sessions in London, the project was never carried out. Nevertheless, Cox was keen to work with Hardy regardless and, in late 1971, they recorded If You Listen, which featured a "crack team" of British folk-rock musicians. Influenced by Drake, the album showcases Hardy's taste for this musical style at the time, featuring "cinematic" arrangements that emphasize the acoustic guitar and light strings. The same year, she released Et si je m'en vais avant toi, also known as "the orange album" in reference to its cover, which incorporated influences from American blues, folk and rock music. The album features a slightly humorous tone and catchier rhythms, which were atypical for the singer. In 1972, Véronique Sanson's debut album made a great impact on Hardy, who began to feel her own music was "very outdated". She described her impression of Sanson in her autobiography: "The originality and quality of the melodies, the lyrics, the production, and the singing made all other French singers, starting with me, seem like hasbeens. (...) It was as if the English and American influences that yé-yé had been happy to simply copy with varying degrees of success had been thoroughly digested and allowed for the emergence of something much more musically mature, as well as more personal." Hardy thus enlisted Michel Berger, the producer of Sanson's album, to oversee the production of her 1973 album Message personnel, which features arrangements by Michel Bernholc, who directed "a basic rock band backed by a lush set of strings [underlining] Hardy's wispy yet compelling vocals." The album is characterized by its sad, introspective mood and "classy, adult tone". The 1974 release Entr'acte was Hardy's first attempt at a concept album, with lyrics that narrate "the successive phases of a one-night stand between a stranger and a young woman, who, abandoned by the man she loves, is looking to give him a taste of his own medicine." It featured orchestral arrangements by Del Newman, who had recently worked on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Cat Stevens' Tea for the Tillerman. 1975—2018 A jazz-oriented