Stromae: Tiny Desk Concert

Stephen Thompson | December 5, 2022
Belgian dance-pop superstar Stromae puts on one of the best live shows in the world — here’s a two-song set from 2015, presented as evidence — but his stage presentation is tough to strip down. To say nothing of the light show, Stromae’s throbbingly impeccable arrangements involve the extensive use of pre-recorded tracks, all of which are frowned upon at the Tiny Desk. So, given a simple three-word assignment (“no preset sounds”), his team set about re-creating Stromae’s music so that it could be performed in real time.

This involved more gleaming tech than we could have ever imagined when we launched Tiny Desk concerts nearly 15 years ago — veritable banks of laptops, mixers and synthesizers, with multiple producers working out of frame — but damned if every sound in this set wasn’t crafted and played live on the spot. Stromae and his team had to come a day early for hours of setup and rehearsals, and even the band’s clothing was handpicked from the singer’s fashion line, but what they produced felt loose-limbed and organic in the spirit of the series.

It helps that, as heard on this year’s outstanding Multitude, Stromae’s songs draw from a deep well of lived emotion. Backed by three members of the Bulgarian women’s choir Yasna Voices, Stromae kicked off his set with “L’enfer,” a wrenching acknowledgement of suicidal thoughts. The song’s chorus, translated to English, reads, “Sometimes I’ve had suicidal thoughts and I’m not proud of it / Sometimes you feel it’d be the only way to silence them / All these thoughts putting me through hell.”

From there, Stromae’s song selections conveyed lighter moods, but even his most danceable tracks contain undercurrents of darkness and conflict: “Santé” is a toast to those who can’t celebrate, “Alors on danse” (from 2009’s Cheese) embraces dancing as a way to drown out life’s hardships and “Mon amour” attempts to reassure a lover against a backdrop of infidelity and dysfunction. On its own, each track is a heady cocktail of painstaking craft and hard-won joy. Taken together, they form a portrait of a world-class showman at the height of his powers.

SET LIST
“L’enfer”
“Santé”
“Alors on danse”
“Mon amour”

MUSICIANS
Stromae: vocals
Manoli Avgoustinatos: keyboards, charango, vocals
Yoshi Masuda: keyboard, vocals
Simon LeSaint: drums, vocals
Florian Rossi: keyboard, vocals

Yasna Voices NY Bulgarian Women’s Choir, directed by Vlada Tomova
Mimi Berkova
Larkin Grimm
Vlada Tomova

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Bob Boilen
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Pierre Kattar, Sofia Seidel
Production Assistants: Jill Britton, Alanté Serene
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Kara Frame, Ashley Pointer, Teresa Xie
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#stromae #tinydesk #nprmusic

[nprmusic]

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[simonbeausejour]

For those who don't understand french, Stromae's lyrics are a very good reason to learn it. They are just as powerful or even more than the music.

[leathemosa]

Stromae always makes sure every member of his team is seen and applauded for. A fantastic musician who treats his crew and band members with respect, while boasting an enthusiastic and downright infectious subtle charisma. Can't beat it!

[karunaaikawa]

he sounds exactly like the recordings his voice is amazing

[hm.]

I waited YEARS for Stromae to be on Tiny Desk!! A maestro of talents!

[alejandroc]

L’enfer - 0:00
Santé - 4:35
Alors on danse - 8:15
Mon amour - 12:49

[sakurasounds]

Stromae sings like he’s telling a story and I’m intrigued, so captivating

[SLPC_]

His charisma is out of the world, one of the coolest guy I've seen

[t-ladtheband]

That drummer deserves a tonne of respect. try playing Santé live, it has such import micro-delays on those hihats/snares. These musicians deserve a medal for making it sound as good as on the album. And you clearly hear it's live and not just fruitloops running in the back... Cudos.

[Loiic]

So happy to see Stromae on Tiny Desk, as a Belgian myself, you can't imagine how loved and idolized he is all over our usually divided country! He's been internationally loved since forever of course, but it still feels nice to see his actual skills and lyricism highlighted and respected by this Tiny Desk! Paul's a real maestro

[melissag]

Stromae has an amazing voice but the way he builds his tracks is absolutely amazing. He manages to create a whole magical soundscape like it's nothing

[ninesixtree]

0:03 - L’enfer
4:34 - Santé
8:08 - Alors on danse
12:39 - Mon amour


juntos somos fortes!!!!

[m_li_ma]

One of my favourite things about his songs is how he performs them in a fun and unpretentious way but his lyrics are often heavy and impactful, and can be easily unnoticed if you don't pay attention enough.

[oldskuulguy]

I love Stromae, it's so nice to see him come back. I wish Tiny Desk Concerts were a thing back in the day so we would have artists like Lauryn Hill. I love this, great job Stromae.

[fredericboninpissarro]

I'm French and the depth of the lyrics coupled with original sounds and melodies that are always different but unmistakably him just simply amazes me. This kid is a musical genius and the nicest guy.

[NothingInteresting]

The beige man group in the background are killer percussionists

[ghanim]

Stromae's performance is incredible. And my god, the audio in this set is so clean I can't tell that this is a live performance.

[henry.sanchez]

Stromae's energy is contagious. His music makes me want to go learn French.

[danielas]

Stromae has probably one of the most IMPECABLE discographies in musical history! His talent and presence is far beyond many mainstream artists in the anglo market. He deserves ALL the recognition in the world. A true MAESTRO 🎉

[indelite]

Please don't throw stones at me, but only yesterday I've discovered his music. And it's been 27 hours of non stop Stromae's songs. I'm mesmerized and hypnotized. His talent, voice, songs and lyrics are out of this world!! ☄️