VIDEO – Stromae sings “L’Enfer” in the 20H of TF1, an unreleased track from his new album

Over seven long years of silence, his fans had not yet despaired of seeing him return. The Belgian singer-songwriter proved them right: after retiring from the music industry in 2015, Stromae is back with a new album, Multitude, scheduled for March 4. The singer with planetary success was the guest of 20H of TF1 this Sunday, January 9, the opportunity for him to unveil a new song from this new opus.

Of “Then we dance” to “Papaoutai” via “Formidable”, his hits met with an unprecedented echo across the world and propelled their performer into a new dimension. A resounding but exhausting triumph for the artist. His second album Square root, published in 2013 (after Cheese, in 2010) and sold six million copies, is followed by a tour that brings together a million people over 200 dates in more than twenty-five countries.

Stromae springs out of these two years of concerts and frenzy. In 2015, he also suffered the rare effects of a drug against malaria, after a date in Kigali, during which he paid tribute to his father, murdered during the Rwandan genocide. But seven years later, he has finally regained his appetite for creation and the stage and returns with a new record, of which a first single was unveiled in October: “Health”, a title dedicated to frontline workers. Proof of the intact loyalty of its audience, the song has already recorded 46 million plays and won the Single d’Or.

The desire to sing is now back, “Fortunately”, slides Stromae on the TF1 set. “I just needed to experience things”, he explains, referring to his marriage and the birth of his child, now three years old. “At one point, you’re a little empty. Life on tour is great, it’s a bit of summer camp, but we don’t experience normal things.”

The singer also felt the need to withdraw, feeling that his musical inspiration was drying up and preferring to work on the clips of other artists, such as the star singers Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and Vitaa or the rappers Orelsan and Bigflo and Oli. “It really made me feel good because the attention was no longer on me, that was what I needed”, he confides.

His texts, on the other hand, always uncompromisingly depict human flaws and contradictions, in unvarnished and striking writing. “We often define what I do as happy music with darker, sadder themes, and that’s kind of how I see life, Stromae declares. It is not completely white or black. There are more difficult moments and more joyful moments, it alternates. There are no highs without lows and lows without highs. “

As for the combative tone of some of his songs, “when we face life’s difficulties, we are all a bit of a boxer and I feel like that from time to time”, he adds. Without looking away from his feeling of loneliness and his dark ideas. Over the course of the interview, he slips a musical response, without any musician, and delivers an extract of the song. “Hell”, from her new album and never performed in public.

“Everything I have already thought about / To say that many others have already thought about it / But despite everything, I feel all alone / Suddenly / I have already had suicidal thoughts and I’m not very proud of it “, he sings, his eyes fixed on the camera. “You sometimes think that’s the only way to silence them / These thoughts that make me go through hell.” In the background, low piano notes blend with electro and jerky rhythms. The power of a solemn choir echoes every chorus.

A crossroads of musical styles dear to Stromae, and which he sought to explore throughout the album, in particular in tribute to the adventurous spirit of his mother who made him travel a lot when he was a child. “I wanted to go find different grooves, which I really like to do: a Chinese violin called the erhu, a harpsichord, Brazilian baile funk …”, he confides. “I love to mix things up. The idea was really to take inspirations everywhere without pointing fingers at a country.”

Hence the title of this new opus, Multitude. “I think we are all multiple, we have lots of different characters and personalities, we are not summed up in a straightjacket or a box”, considers the artist. For his return on stage in February, the Belgian singer has already sold 60,000 seats on three dates, parties in just 20 minutes. He will also tour festivals this summer, such as Rock en Seine on August 28, 2022, before a world tour which will end in France, at the Zénith and at the Arena in 2023.