Paris (AFP)

This is the first single from his long-awaited future album: Stromae, withdrawn from the musical circuit since 2015, with the last album dating from 2013, returns with the track "Health", released Friday morning on the musical platforms.

With this title dedicated to small hands, everyday workers to whom we do not always pay attention, we find the unstoppable style of the Belgian.

The artist with 3 million albums sold relies on a framework mixing South American cumbia and electro to shine a text where he becomes a poet of the humble, to whom he raises a toast.

"Truck driver, flight attendant / Baker or fisherman / A drink to the champions of the worst times", he sings, just accompanied for the time being by a visual where he sports a hairstyle with a double bun .

We also find her love of puns like "Céline ... bataire, you take your jackets in the locker room".

The 36-year-old Belgian is preparing the ground for a future record, the release date of which has still not been revealed.

"Stromae is a complete, fascinating, rare artist, and at the same time so unifying and inspiring, a creative genius (...) he has this extraordinary capacity to deeply touch people all over the world", welcomes in a press release Olivier Nusse, boss of Universal Music France, record company responsible for the exploitation of the future album released from Stromae's own label, Mosaert (the same letters but in disorder).

His last album, "Racine carrée" (2013, after "Cheese" in 2010) had pushed the Belgian into another dimension.

For better or for worse.

This public and critical success had taken him on two years of crazy world tours which had wrung him both physically and mentally.

"Even if we sell dreams, it remains a job, and as in any job, when we work too much, we end up with a burn-out", he conceded in 2018 in an interview with France 2 .

His big comeback on stage was announced a week ago.

The interpreter of "So we dance", "Papaoutai" or "Formidable" had first been made official at Rock en Seine, a festival in the Paris region, on August 28, 2022.

Then other announcements followed and they are probably not the last.

Stromae will thus be in Belgium beforehand at the Werchter festival (north) on June 19, before the Ardentes, in Liège (south), on July 10.

© 2021 AFP