‘QUE CE SOIT CLAIR’ is the second single from Paul Kalkbrenner’s new album ‘THE ESSENCE’ and has become a fan favorite at festivals and in club sets. It’s a collaboration with Belgian superstar Stromae (whose real name is also Paul), built on a long-standing history: back in 2009, Kalkbrenner created a remix for Stromae’s single ‘Te Quiero.’ Now, they meet again as equals – old friends who have never lost touch over the years.
‘QUE CE SOIT CLAIR’ is one of the album’s most direct tracks: pounding four-to-the-floor kicks, pulsating synths, and Stromae’s intense spoken-word vocals. The title translates to “Just to be clear…” – and that’s exactly what the track is about. A love that knows no boundaries. No nations, no origins, no categories. What matters is the connection between two people.
The track is accompanied by a striking new video directed by Kelzang Ravach of Temple Caché, known for his surreal, hybrid visual language. Set in a dreamlike parallel Berlin, the film follows Stromae’s perspective as he stumbles into Paul Kalkbrenner’s party — a feverish celebration where bodies, light, and space dissolve into one another. Ravach uses first-person immersion, shifting canvases, and morphing imagery to blur the line between reality and abstraction, evoking Berlin nightlife at its most fluid and cosmic.
“It reminded me of nights I experienced in Berlin — pushing a door without knowing where it would lead. You find yourself in the middle of something, feeling the energy unfold around you. That’s how I wanted the audience to discover this party: at once inside it and watching it, until Stromae appears, like a reveal, and we realise we’ve been seeing it through his eyes all along.” — said Kelzang Ravach, founder of Temple Caché and director.
Kalkbrenner appears as a kind of sonic architect, shaping the atmosphere with his gestures, while Stromae drifts through the chaos, only glimpsed in fragments and reflections until a late reveal. The video rejects conventional storytelling in favor of sensory cinema, channeling the energy of the rave into a collective, borderless experience of love and transformation.
Over several years, in an apartment blending mid-century modern with 1970s luxury—complete with real tungsten bulbs, vintage TVs, palm trees, and a mix of stone, wood, and fur – ‘THE ESSENCE’ took shape as a collection of organically grown tracks.
“It’s about the essential. This is an album I can truly stand behind. I consider it my best.” Kalkbrenner says. “Sure, there may be more well-known hits on my other albums, but there were always two or three filler tracks. This one doesn’t have a single filler. Not even a filler moment!”
‘THE ESSENCE’ is available here