Hailing from Nice, Francis Lai found his calling in the Paris arts scene, kick-starting a lasting partnership with director Claude Lelouch with 1966's A Man and A Woman. Lai's scores capture cinematic romance with real flair: they're, at turns, sophisticated, playful, jazzy and Latin-flavoured, or erotic and tragic, as his Oscar®-winning work for 1970's Love Story shows. Stirring piano motifs are often at his compositions' core, though Lai has also proven an innovator as a prominent early adopter of synths. This stylish collection encapsulates his music's beauty—and its cheekier side.