>Barely a week after Stromae, there is again Belgian music news with an important international resonance: the brand new single “Bruxelles je t’aime” by pop phenomenon Angèle. The Linkebeek native, who has been living in Paris for a few years now, has not forgotten her roots and would also regret it if our country were to split up one day. The question also arises: is 25-year-old Angèle Van Laeken ready for the world?
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>In “Bruxelles, je t’aime”, a melancholic Angèle misses her Belgian home. But the song also carries a political message: the prospect of a split Belgium because of some language problems gives the singer nightmares, she says. She also sings a few lines in Dutch!
>
>The release of her second album does not seem far off now. French-language media are already guessing at December 10. At the end of 2017, Van Laeken was still an influencer by main profession and released her debut single “La loi de Murphy” on her own. One song later, she was a superstar in French-speaking Europe and Flanders. So the pressure to confirm is immeasurably greater.
>
>The 2018 album “Brol” (and offshoot “Brol, la suite”) has meanwhile accounted for more than 1.5 million records sold, 2 billion streams, 8 MIA awards, 3 Victoires De La Musique (most important music awards in France), an MTV award, etc…. A week ago, Angèle posted: “Never thought that the record I made in my teenage bedroom would give me such great adventures”.
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>Not a lie, as her first ever TV appearance on the talk show “Van Gils & guests” proves. “Do you want to conquer the world?” host Lieven Van Gils asks her at one point. To which Van Laeken modestly replies: “Belgium”.
>
>A few weeks earlier, “Het journaal” had already visited one of her first concerts at the Comic Museum in Brussels. In the short report, she found the then 100,000 followers on her socials already “quite a lot”. Meanwhile, she has 3 million fans on Instagram.
>
>The only difference with that other Brussels hit wonder Stromae? For now, her success is limited to Belgium and (partly) French-speaking countries such as France, Switzerland and Canada.
>
>Yet she has recently taken important steps towards world stardom. First of all, she was invited by Lady Gaga for the coronation show “One World: together at home”. She stood out among John Legend, Ellie Goulding, Annie Lennox, The Killers, etc..
>
>This was followed in October 2020 by the number one duet “Fever” with none other than Dua Lipa, currently one of the most popular superstars on the planet.
>
>Since last year, Van Laeken also shines in the campaigns of the renowned fashion house Chanel and thus joined the select club of “muses” with predecessors such as Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Nicole Kidman, Blake Lively, Lily Rose Depp and Cara Delevingne.
>
>Absolute world fame may therefore be within reach, but the question remains whether the singer wants this herself. After all, in a 2019 interview with VRTNWS, she indicated that she has long been happy with her current success. But with “Van Gils & guests”, her ambition also seemed limited to Belgium at first. Absolute world star in the making or not, her new single shows that she will continue to carry our small country, preferably united forever, in her heart…
… Y’a pas qqun comme Anal Génocide mais musical pour se faire les dents dessus?
I really like it.
Aaaaaaaaand cue all the haters saying she’s only famous because of her brother and parents, because apparently women can’t be successful off their own accord.
Her album Brol was effin’ amazing. Really looking forward to what’s next. This particular song is a beat too heavy on the beat (a kick on every quarter note is such a god-awful, boring way to make a song danceable) but maybe it’ll do well commercially.
I liked it a lot to be honest
Toch wel raar dat ze nu spreken over mogelijke “wereldwijde doorbraak” terwijl ze al grote internationale hits heeft gehad.
Worldwide?
Waarom hebt gij dit naar het Engels vertaald
I really like the song and the music video.
Hate her music.
Videoclip reminds me a lot of IU’s [Lilac](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7bnOxV4jAc). Especially the scene at 3:00, the “normal train ride turning into people dancing” at the start and the cinematic train when viewed from the outside. Train ride videoclips are quite a common theme, though.
Not a bad song even though, hard for me to admit as I very much dislike Brussels. I don’t like the chorus.
12 comments
>Barely a week after Stromae, there is again Belgian music news with an important international resonance: the brand new single “Bruxelles je t’aime” by pop phenomenon Angèle. The Linkebeek native, who has been living in Paris for a few years now, has not forgotten her roots and would also regret it if our country were to split up one day. The question also arises: is 25-year-old Angèle Van Laeken ready for the world?
>
>In “Bruxelles, je t’aime”, a melancholic Angèle misses her Belgian home. But the song also carries a political message: the prospect of a split Belgium because of some language problems gives the singer nightmares, she says. She also sings a few lines in Dutch!
>
>The release of her second album does not seem far off now. French-language media are already guessing at December 10. At the end of 2017, Van Laeken was still an influencer by main profession and released her debut single “La loi de Murphy” on her own. One song later, she was a superstar in French-speaking Europe and Flanders. So the pressure to confirm is immeasurably greater.
>
>The 2018 album “Brol” (and offshoot “Brol, la suite”) has meanwhile accounted for more than 1.5 million records sold, 2 billion streams, 8 MIA awards, 3 Victoires De La Musique (most important music awards in France), an MTV award, etc…. A week ago, Angèle posted: “Never thought that the record I made in my teenage bedroom would give me such great adventures”.
>
>Not a lie, as her first ever TV appearance on the talk show “Van Gils & guests” proves. “Do you want to conquer the world?” host Lieven Van Gils asks her at one point. To which Van Laeken modestly replies: “Belgium”.
>
>A few weeks earlier, “Het journaal” had already visited one of her first concerts at the Comic Museum in Brussels. In the short report, she found the then 100,000 followers on her socials already “quite a lot”. Meanwhile, she has 3 million fans on Instagram.
>
>The only difference with that other Brussels hit wonder Stromae? For now, her success is limited to Belgium and (partly) French-speaking countries such as France, Switzerland and Canada.
>
>Yet she has recently taken important steps towards world stardom. First of all, she was invited by Lady Gaga for the coronation show “One World: together at home”. She stood out among John Legend, Ellie Goulding, Annie Lennox, The Killers, etc..
>
>This was followed in October 2020 by the number one duet “Fever” with none other than Dua Lipa, currently one of the most popular superstars on the planet.
>
>Since last year, Van Laeken also shines in the campaigns of the renowned fashion house Chanel and thus joined the select club of “muses” with predecessors such as Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Nicole Kidman, Blake Lively, Lily Rose Depp and Cara Delevingne.
>
>Absolute world fame may therefore be within reach, but the question remains whether the singer wants this herself. After all, in a 2019 interview with VRTNWS, she indicated that she has long been happy with her current success. But with “Van Gils & guests”, her ambition also seemed limited to Belgium at first. Absolute world star in the making or not, her new single shows that she will continue to carry our small country, preferably united forever, in her heart…
Translated with [www.DeepL.com/Translator](http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)
Toch niet met dat nummer!
… Y’a pas qqun comme Anal Génocide mais musical pour se faire les dents dessus?
I really like it.
Aaaaaaaaand cue all the haters saying she’s only famous because of her brother and parents, because apparently women can’t be successful off their own accord.
Her album Brol was effin’ amazing. Really looking forward to what’s next. This particular song is a beat too heavy on the beat (a kick on every quarter note is such a god-awful, boring way to make a song danceable) but maybe it’ll do well commercially.
I liked it a lot to be honest
Toch wel raar dat ze nu spreken over mogelijke “wereldwijde doorbraak” terwijl ze al grote internationale hits heeft gehad.
Worldwide?
Waarom hebt gij dit naar het Engels vertaald
I really like the song and the music video.
Hate her music.
Videoclip reminds me a lot of IU’s [Lilac](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7bnOxV4jAc). Especially the scene at 3:00, the “normal train ride turning into people dancing” at the start and the cinematic train when viewed from the outside. Train ride videoclips are quite a common theme, though.
Not a bad song even though, hard for me to admit as I very much dislike Brussels. I don’t like the chorus.