2022 Breakthrough Artist: Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul

Belgian duo Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul have enjoyed the kind of year that most artists fantasize about. After a string of increasingly well-regarded singles, the duo dropped their full-length debut, “Topical Dancer,” in March 2022. First and foremost, it’s a banging electro-pop record: released on the boutique label of fellow producers/mentors Soulwax, it shares that duo’s uncanny knack for skating on the bleeding edge of minimalist avant-house. 

Tracks like “Ceci n’est pas un cliché” and “Blenda” bump along on sweat-inducing grooves that invite total dancefloor hedonism. The album’s lyrics are the real spike in the punch, a consideration of the personal and political that pegs the zeitgeist without succumbing to didacticism. It’s relevant that Adigéry and Pupul are the children of immigrants raised in a stew of unexamined colonialism, but their approach is more open-hearted than polemical, inviting listeners to dance and think in whatever proportion suits them. 

It’s that combination of vibes – sexy and sardonic, uplifting and aware, rapturous and wry – that makes Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul such perfect agents of our shared historical moment. Get yourself to one of their joyous, roof-raising live gigs and sweat it out together, and get a taste of the action below as they join us in studio — Live From KCRW HQ.

More: Guest Mix: Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul celebrate ‘Topical Dancer’ with sitar disco, deep-cut Prince, and more