As far as Serge Gainsbourg was concerned, he was making a pop-rock album. But while supple, funky basslines power most of the songs—and a scrappy psychedelic guitar solo drives the instrumental "En Melody"—his trademark modern jazz-influenced arrangements predominate. The orchestral "Valse de Melody" would be full-on easy listening without his louche, near-spoken croon. The epic "Cargo culte"—with its whispered vocal, distorted blues-rock riffing, ominous tympani rolls, and foreboding choral interjections—closes the album on a positively chilling note.