the Patrick Dewaere-penned single "T'es pas poli", reaching out to the singer-songwriter after being impressed with his performances at the Café de la Gare in Paris. To promote the song, Dewaere and the singer performed it on several television shows. Despite counting on Hardy's fame, the record did not sell as anticipated. In the early 1970s, Hardy met Tuca—pseudonym of Valeniza Zagni da Silva—a Brazilian singer and guitarist based in Paris, and they soon became close friends. After attending the Festival Internacional da Canção in Rio de Janeiro—and having come into contact with the music of Brazil—Hardy decided to make an album with the Brazilian musician in late 1970. It was the first time in the singer's career that she was able to work with a songwriter on songs before entering the recording studio, in addition to participating in the choice of string arrangements. The resulting album, La question, was released on 16 October 1971, promoted through the singles "Le martien", "Même sous la pluie" and "Rêve". Although it was highly acclaimed by the French press upon release, the album sold poorly in comparison to other works by the singer, as it received little promotion on television, and failed to gain traction on radio stations and among audiences at the time. Nevertheless, La question has generated a dedicated cult following since its release and is regarded as Hardy's artistic peak. The singer reflected in 2008: I have never been as proud of one of my records as I was of [La question]. (...) This album seems to me to be more homogenous, "classier," and sophisticated than my previous efforts, and while it did not enjoy great success with the public at large, at least I can claim that it did touch another audience. (...) Often an ambitious record can be more or less ignored when it is released but ends up having a long life. The sole concern, and it is a valid one, is that some of the artists who played on it were in no position to wait twenty years to feed themselves. I became increasingly concerned about this situation as time passed, even though creating songs remains a very particular life choice, one that involves accepting natural selection and precarious employment. Following the poor commercial performance of La question, Hardy decided to move towards a different sound and enlisted British arranger Tony Cox to produce her following