La question (pronounced [la kɛstjɔ̃]; French for "The question") is the eleventh studio album by French singer-songwriter Françoise Hardy, released in October 1971 on Sonopresse. Like many of her previous records, it was originally released without a title and came to be referred to, later on, by the name of its most popular song. It is her second album produced under Hypopotam, a production company she established in 1970. The music on the album was almost entirely composed by the Brazilian musician Tuca, who supervised the project and participated as a guitarist.

One of her most sparsely produced albums, La question combines Hardy's sensual vocals with bossa nova-tinged guitar playing, touches of bass and subtle string arrangements. Lyrically, it encompasses themes of love, anxiety, eroticism and fear, attributed to instabilities in her relationship with Jacques Dutronc at that time. While the album was not well received by French audiences and radio stations upon release, it earned the acclaim of critics and came to be viewed as a turning point in Hardy's career, in which she moved toward a less commercial and more mature style. The album has since attained cult status, and is celebrated as one of the most important works in Hardy's discography.

Hardy made her musical debut in the early 1960s on Disques Vogue and was an immediate success as one of the most prominent figures of the yé-yé phenomenon. During the decade, she "found herself at the very forefront of the French music scene", and became "France's most exportable female singing star", recording in various languages, appearing in several movies, touring throughout Europe, and gaining admiration from musicians such as Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger. In 1962, the singer met photographer Jean-Marie Périer, with whom she engaged in a romantic relationship until 1967. Périer - who has been described as "a veritable Pygmalion for the young singer" - helped her to develop a more modern personal style and persuaded her to begin modelling; Hardy soon became a popular fashion icon as well. In 1969, she became embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with her record label, Disques Vogue, and saw the closure of her own production company, Productions Aspargus. The company had faced the resistance of the label's executives, and Hardy's decision to no longer perform live as well as sign with Sonopresse further aggravated the situation. As the yé-yé era drew to a close in the late 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.

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