Stromae pulls up looking like Chun-Li as a matador, for a performance of his single “Santé”

Back in 2013 Stromae released his second studio album Racine Carrée, which featured the breakout hit and the song most probabaly know him for, “Papaoutai”. Then he did some fashion stuff and then basically dropped off the face of the earth. In actuality, he was working on creative endeavours, but none of it for his own releases, and the void was felt. But now he is coming back with his long awaited album Multitudes, preceded by the single “Santé”. We had gotten a music video, which is as quirky as you'd expect from Stromae, although he features very little in it. But his performance for Jimmy Fallon features him from start to finish, complete with quirks and the cool and pristine production you'd expect from Stromae, so the whole thing looks like a damn music video any way.

“Santé” has levels y’all. The potential to hit every damn generation. The grandparents can shuffle to it. The aunties and uncles can two-step to it. The middle-aged folk can buss down to it. The young’ns can TikTok dance to it. The groove on it is kinda strange though, because the time signature sounds strange to the ear, but it somehow make sense to your body when you dancing to it. My microwave is sick and tired of watching me body roll to this song.

Stromae hasn't released music in almost a decade. And yet he comes along with “Santé”, and it’s like Stromae hadn't gone anywhere in all that time, and that time hadn't passed for him at all. He looks the same and sounds the same.

There’s just something about artists who are so sure of their craft, their sound and their art, that they can just choose to disappear from music for long periods of time, and then pop back with a look and a sound that's just how you remembered it, and it all still be good and potent, with a fanbase who will not only eat it all up, but will grow. It's not something that a lot of artists are fortunate to be able to do and get away with. But Stromae’s one of ‘em.

Stromae’s third studio album Multitude releases on March 4th, 2022. There will also be a tour which kicks off in February 2022 and plays through until June 2023. At present, it's a European tour. Undoubtedly the pandemic is governing the reaches of it; so dates for additional countries might be added, but dates could just as easily get cancelled. The Omicron Persei 8 is having the time of its life, and I’m sure COVID has several remixes planned for 2022.

If you've not seen a Stromae gig before, then I highly recommend his Racine Carrée gig, which is available in its entirety officially on YouTube. The whole thing is great. But that “Humain à l’eau” performance? *Raises hand and looks away*