For nearly five years now, a famous French singer songwriter has been living in the hinterland between Clapham and Brixton, unbeknownst to most of his neighbours. This acclaimed chansonnier has performed from time to time in UK venues smaller than he’s used to back home, but otherwise, he’s largely gone unnoticed going about his everyday business... Mathieu Boogaerts - for it is he - is a name you’ll want to know if you don’t know it already. Hailing from the uncelebrated Parisian suburb of Fontenay-sous-Bois, Boogaerts moved into central Paris when he was 20, and over the following 30 years, he’s had spells living in Nairobi, Brussels and now London. It’ll come as little surprise then that this is music of an international flavour, curious and driven by impulse, inclusive and yearning for connection, and as innately beholden to Black music, Brazilian music or James Brown’s music as it is to la chanson.