Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul drop DEBUT ALBUM

Their debut record, Topical Dancer, is co-written and co-produced with Soulwax and due for release on March 4 2022 via their iconic label DEEWEE.

‘Ceci n’est pas un cliché’ is an accumulation of all the cliché lyrics Charlotte and Bolis have heard over the years. The title is also a wink to one of the most copied sentences in art, originally by Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte. Speaking on its origins, the duo explain:

This song is an accumulation of all the cliché lyrics so often used in pop music. It came about when we were touring and heard a song on the radio opening with “I was walking down the street” which made us strongly cringe. But the thing is, cringing is a shared passion of Bolis and I. So we passionately made a song out of it called ‘Ceci n’est pas un cliché’. Even more passionately we performed ourselves into a video about all the clichés we see in the magic world of musical genres. The musician in all it’s glory, capturing momentum and delivering a top notch performance, gazing into the light that’s called inspiration. And so for once and for all, please leave Magritte alone…!

Cultural appropriation and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures conversations Charlotte and Bolis’s have had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Last November saw the duo release lead single ‘Blenda’ which was inspired by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. It’s a razor sharp and hard-hitting call to arms that references how Charlotte feels she is “a product of colonialism”. The track was added to the A List playlist at BBC 6Music and has been spotlighted across the station by Lauren Laverne, Craig Charles and Amy Lamé. Previous singles ‘HAHA’ and ‘Thank You’ picked up a wealth of press support from the likes of The Guardian, The Observer, NME, Crack, Evening Standard, Pitchfork, The Independent, DIY, The Vinyl Factory, Loud & Quiet + many more in anticipation of the release of their exceptional debut record.

To celebrate the release of their debut album, Charlotte and Bolis will be embarking on a worldwide headline tour in April and May, including six nights across the UK, with shows in Bristol, Brighton, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and London’s iconic XOYO. Tickets can be purchased HERE with full tour details below.