Racine carrée – Square-root pop across Europe

Square-root title, Europe on the floor

In August 2013, Racine carrée came out with a clean graphic idea, an African pulse, and lyrics that stay serious. Paul Van Haver, better known as Stromae, had already hit hard across Europe with “Alors on danse”. The second album, released through Mosaert and Mercury, followed that single with tighter structures. Electro beats carry Congolese rumba, salsa and trap details. The clothes follow the title: Coralie Barbier’s geometric polos match the abrupt, ordered name, and the African records the Belgian singer heard at family parties.

“Formidable” is a bruised waltz, filmed half-drunk on a Brussels street, and it became the public image of the album. “Papaoutai” turns an absence into a chant a stadium can sing, a question aimed at fathers and at one missing man. “Tous les mêmes” switches gender in the middle of the song. “Carmen” runs Bizet through lyrics about social networks. “Humain à l’eau” and “Quand c’est ?” stay with death and fear. Across thirteen tracks the voice stays clear, theatrical, almost like a lesson, while the productions keep a dance beat under dark lyrics.

The album is precise, and the precision still leaves room for heat. Francophone pop, a memory of New Beat, and Central African rhythm sit on the same grid. The songs are tightly built: a clear chorus, then a turn in the lyric. France certified it diamond. Europe picked up the dances. Late-night stages in the United States met a star who filled the room in French.