Stromae unveils surprise comeback single after six-year break

Famed Brussels singer Stromae has released a surprise new single, after a six-year break from the limelight.

The title, Santé, is dedicated to essential workers during the pandemic who have each made a small difference to everyday life - but whose contribution often goes unnoticed, from cleaners to nurses, truck drivers and other "champions of the worst hours"

"How about we celebrate those who don't celebrate," he sings. "I would like to raise my glass to those who don't."

"Stromae is a fascinating, rare artist, and at the same time so unifying and inspiring, a creative genius," said Olivier Nusse, boss of Universal Music France, the label to which Stromae is signed.

Stromae, whose given name is Paul Van Haver, took a break in 2015. In one interview, he cited burnout as a factor - he had undertaken 200 concerts in just two years. He also said that an anti-malarial drug had given him anxiety.

However, he did not stop making music, while also expanding the fashion brand Mosaert that he set up with his designer wife, Coralie Barbier.

News of today's new single, and the recent announcement that he will play Werchter Boutique and Les Ardentes in Liège next summer, has fuelled speculation that a new album is on its way.

Stromae (French Verlan for Maestro) was born in Laeken to a Rwandan father and Flemish mother. His father,an architect, was murdered during the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

To date he has sold 8.5 million albums worldwide and his 2013 album Racine Carée was the first in France to sell over two million copies in more than a decade.