Mary Roos: Amour Toujours: The French Song Collection 1972-1975

In the 1970s, German pop singer Mary Roos attempted a career in France, playing Michel Fugain’s girlfriend in a film musical, Un Enfant dans la Ville and releasing two French-language albums, Mary Roos (1972) and Direction l’Aventure (1973). Amour Toujours, which incorporates 11 tracks from her first album and 10 from her second, is a summary of her sortie. The tone is optimistic, cosmopolitan, and her voice has the intimacy of mainstream pop, as if the singer is saying, “I trust you. I am your clearest, most easily understood self and am willing to confide my loves and disappointments.” Her songs are designed to be heard once and wiggle themselves into your brain. “Bing Bang Holly” and “Viva” have choruses that you can hum along to. The words je t’aime are uttered but in a jaunty way, not breathy, not agonized, as if love is never a source of torment. It’s charming music Kylie Minogue might have been making if she’d been born years earlier in Europe.