For those searching for another fine Francoise Hardy album of sublime yet dreary Parisian pop, 1972’s Et si je m’en vais avant toi is not the album you’re expecting. A trio of tunes, “Cafard,” “Bowm Bowm Bowm” and the title track come closest and are excellent additions to the Hardy catalog. The remainder of the album is a bit of a shocker. Francoise goes country pop! From the first guitar riffs of “L’eclairage” it’s obvious that something quite different is taking place. The slide guitar and barroom blues harmonies bring Hardy to very American places yet in her seductive French. There’s plenty to like here. “Pardon” has a sweet country & western lope that sounds as if Hardy found her way to Bakersfield. The hard guitar riffs of “La berlue” and the lite-FM acoustics of “Bruit de fond” show great diversity. Hardy wrote most of the material here and it’s a worthy artistic stretch for one as talented as she.