VIDEO | Fallenium examines male indifference with single ‘Lâche’ during International Women’s Day week

Belgian artist Fallenium has unexpectedly released the French-language single ‘Lâche‘ (‘Coward‘) during the week of International Women’s Day (8 March). The track had originally been planned for a later French-language album, but was completed earlier than scheduled following a debate on women’s safety in the television programme ‘De Afspraak‘. According to the artist, what struck them most was not the statistics or analysis discussed in the programme, but the surprise expressed by some men.

“What shocked me is that there are still men who genuinely react with surprise when women say they feel unsafe. That surprise says everything. It shows how wide the gap is between what women experience every day and what men think reality is.”

With ‘Lâche’, Fallenium shifts the focus of the conversation from perpetrators to bystanders.

“Perpetrators are perpetrators. Men who assault women, femicide perpetrators, rapists… it’s scum. I hope we can agree on that. But this song is about the moment when you know something is wrong and still remain silent. That is not neutrality.”

The comfortable position of the silent witness

In the song, Fallenium describes familiar situations: women holding their keys between their fingers at night, pretending to be on the phone, quickening their pace. At the same time, the artist portrays men who allow the behaviour of other men to pass without challenge,  out of convenience, group pressure or conflict avoidance.

Fallenium identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, but says that the outside world “almost always reads, approaches and treats” them as a white cisgender man. That perception, the artist argues, brings with it an unwanted and unsolicited responsibility.

“Privilege does not mean I am guilty of the fact that women feel unsafe. But it does mean I share responsibility for the culture that allows it to continue. Anyone who is systematically seen, approached and treated as a man is given space, credibility and safety. The question is what you do with that space.”

The persistent urge to label

Fallenium connects the theme of bystander behaviour to what they see as a broader societal reflex: the obsession with classification.

“We rightly consider it normal that people do not explicitly and publicly display their sex without being asked. Yet at the same time we expect everyone to dress and behave in such a way that we can immediately tell what sex they are. That is a strange, almost hypocritical paradox.”

According to the artist, much inequality stems from this constant categorisation.

“As long as we continue to divide people according to skin colour, ethnicity, sexual orientation and also sex, power imbalances will remain. You see it in safety, in wages, in expectations at home, in how women are viewed and treated.”

Fallenium goes a step further: “If it has no impact on the service being provided, asking someone’s sex is about as meaningful as asking their horoscope sign or eye colour. We pretend it is essential, but in many contexts it simply isn’t.”

The songwriter acknowledges that such views may sound radical to some. “I believe a real breakthrough will only come when we stop primarily seeing each other as races, genders or sexual labels, and simply as people. I realise that for many people this still sounds too abstract or even threatening.”

No easy scapegoats

At the same time, Fallenium warns against simplistic explanations.

“Online I see how quickly the debate derails into pointing at ‘the other’. The racist card is played to place women’s insecurity exclusively on certain groups. But anyone who reduces women’s safety to one community mainly creates a comfortable distance from themselves. It is a way of avoiding looking at one’s own responsibility.”

Abuse of power and boundary-crossing behaviour, the artist argues, are not the monopoly of any one culture or community. Referring to the #MeToo movement, the case surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and recent Belgian court cases involving stalking, exhibitionism, sexual assault and voyeurism, Fallenium says: “Every so often we are confronted with it again. Yet we still struggle to connect the dots and learn from it structurally.”

Mirror, not slogan

Musically, ‘Lâche’ is a French-language pop track with a dark, introspective undertone. It begins as a personal confession and gradually develops into a broader social reflection. Rather than slogans or explicit accusations, the focus is on self-examination.

“‘Je suis la-la-la-la-lâche’ may sound catchy, but ‘Lâche‘ is not a classic protest song. It’s a mirror. First for myself. Hopefully afterwards for others.”

With the release during the week of International Women’s Day, Fallenium deliberately positions themselves within the broader social debate — not as a moral authority, but as a participant who refuses to look away any longer.

‘Lâche’ is available from this week on all streaming platforms.