Love on the Beat

Relocating to New Jersey to work with American funk and disco session musicians, the aging provocateur embraced the sleek, synthetic textures of mid-80s dance-pop. Gainsbourg's raspy, spoken-word deliveries narrate deeply provocative tales of taboo sexuality, framed by slapping basslines and mechanical drum machines. The record's unabashedly sleazy atmosphere polarized critics but succeeded in keeping him relevant within the contemporary club scene.