An open letter to Stromae: Please come back to music.
I write this heart-felt letter knowing it'll never be read by it's intended recipient because when it comes to Stromae...well it's complicated. So instead I'll address it to you.
I struggle to tie the words together to describe him as an artist. Everything I say will seem superfluous unless you understand his music and that will take time, so let's get started with the name. STROMAE has no meaning on it's own because it's an anagram, but rearrange the letters S, M, T, R, A E, O = MAESTRO. Within his own name you find the true meaning of what is intended by his chosen form of expression. The definition of 'maestro' being : A distinguished performer or conductor of classical music, which is pretty smart when you realise this is what he is originally trained in. Classical and hip-hop can often be found as a base for many of his albums.
I'm about to make a very bold statement. I think Stromae is one of the most incredible musicians to ever walk the face of this earth. He's absolutely genius and I have never been able to recover or replace the gap left when he retired from music in 2016. I feel like during this time, we need him more than ever.
But first let's take it back to where it all started. French class in the lead up to GCSE exams. The year is 2013 and we are tasked by our teacher to find a French song or poem to present in class which will help familiarise us with how it's colloquially spoken. So I googled 'French music' and this is what came up:
Just like that, I was hooked. I'd always grown up listening to music from around the world because that's what Dad likes but this was my first portal into international music chosen by myself.
When I discovered his art I was first into the beat. Here is a man who experiments with house music; mixing it with classical, hip-hop, highlife, afrobeat and electronic music all into a delicious bowl of miscellaneous. He created whole worlds with each song and music video- everything placed with thought and expressed with passion. The songs are often paired with the videos, contextualising his thought and writing process.
Where I am now and what I've been through in my life gives me a deeper understanding and bond with his music and the recurring themes. Stromae picks apart everything we follow in society, often employing lyrical dissonance (when a song is upbeat but the lyrics are not). For example in his most popular song 'Alors On Danse' (So We Dance) he's actually singing about how we ignore our everyday problems. We're tired, we're stuck in a space we hate, repeating the same thing everyday and there's problems all around the world so much so that it's overwhelming. There's corruption and poverty and burnout and it's all too ugly to face and so we dance. And the smartest thing about this song is that most people who heard it when it was popular never cared to understand the lyrics because as humans we'd rather lose ourselves in an infectious, fun, distracting house beat.
In his music, Stromae dissects the human pattern. He won't shy away from the topics that we rarely discuss, but colours them brightly and cushions them in festive music... and just like that banana-flavoured medicine we'd have as babies, we'll drink it up because after all it's good for us. His art discusses the traps we set ourselves in our expectation (Ta Fête), and the slow disintegration of relationships in families and in marriage. (Te Quiero, Formidable) He speaks about his anger towards his absent father and the feeling of trying to make sense of your own identity whilst being in limbo. (Papaoutai, Je Cours) He speaks of sickness( Quand C'est) and criticises our toxic need to show off every part of our lives on social media (Carmen). He even picks apart capitalism and consumerism and how it feeds into wars and our way of life (Peace or Violence).
But in one of my favourite songs 'Tous Les Memes' he takes on the role of a husband and wife, dressing as both in the video and sings from the perspective of a woman exasperated with her man who wants the world and offers nothing...lol typical. The video features his unisex clothing line from his Mosaert collection which is now he and his wife's main priority.
With all his realism, pessimism and beautiful cynicism there is also celebration. He still finds the joy in life and in music and I love that he makes music about music. I turned 21 last year and was intentional to play 'Ave Cesaria' as the clock struck midnight. I wanted to always remember the celebration of a new milestone age with a song that embodies joy, family and life. This is why we need Stromae back now. He finds the perfect equilibrium between our disillusion and our delight. During this time the world feels like it's crumbling who will be our voice? Who will berate our leaders into action or motivate ourselves into improvement? Who will create the sound to distract us from everything that's going on? Our respite through the medium of rhythm? Stromae, music's superhero- under the hugely unlikely premise that you're reading this please come back. We need you and miss you and promise to give you more privacy this time round.
No comments:
Post a Comment