Stromae: Tiny Desk Concert

From the creator

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 /

Published 2022-12-05 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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