Topical Dancer

Topical Dancer is a studio album by Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul and co-written and co-produced by Soulwax. Released on 4 March 2022 under the label Deewee, Topical Dancer is Adigéry and Pupul's debut album as a duo.

Topical Dancer
Studio album by
Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul
Released4 March 2022 (2022-03-04)
Genre
Length50:43
LanguageCreole, Dutch, English, French
LabelDeewee
Producer
  • Charlotte Adigéry
  • Bolis Pupul
  • Soulwax
Charlotte Adigéry chronology
Zandoli
(2019)		 Topical Dancer
(2022)
Bolis Pupul chronology
Topical Dancer
(2022)
Singles from Topical Dancer
  1. "Thank You"
    Released: 22 September 2021
  2. "Blenda"
    Released: 3 November 2021
  3. "Haha"
    Released: 1 December 2021
  4. "Ceci n'est pas un cliché"
    Released: 27 January 2022
  5. "Making Sense Stop"
    Released: 3 March 2022

Background

Pupul and Adigéry are both based in Belgium with shared heritage from Martinique, a French island.[1] They first met while working for the soundtrack of Belgica, a 2016 Belgian drama, after being invited by Soulwax, who also co-wrote and co-produced the album.[2][3] The album is influenced by experiences of racial discrimination and sexual abuse.[4][2] In the album, Adigéry sings in English, Dutch, Creole, and French.[1] The album features Charlotte Adigéry's mother, Christiane Adigéry and was released under the label Deewee, which the duo previously released three EPs on.[1] "Thank You" is the lead single of Topical Dancer and the second single is "Blenda".[5][6] "Blenda" was released on 4 November 2021 along with an announcement of the album and its release date.[6] The first track of the album "Bel Deewee" is a field recording of Adigéry entering the Deewee recording complex, which is also where they recorded the album, and calling through the intercom.[7]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Beats Per Minute88/100[4]
DIY[10]
NME[2]
Pitchfork8.2/10[3]
The Observer[11]
The Skinny[1]

On the review aggregator Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, Topical Dancer received an average score of 85, based on six reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[8] Emily Mackay of The Observer called the album "banging fusion of funk, house and techno".[11] Paul Simpson of AllMusic claimed the album was "catchiest and most danceable songs Adigéry and Pupul have written to date" and that the lyrics "offer a lot of food for thought".[9] Eric Torres of Pitchfork called the album "riveting" and reported that the album had a "roguish charm".[3] Jasper Willems wrote on Beats Per Minute that Topical Dancer is "spiritual palette cleanser as much as it is a physical one" and "a record for literally anyone".[4] In a review written for NME, reviewer Max Pilley claimed that the album "arrived bursting with positive energy".[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written and produced by Charlotte Adigéry, Bolis Pupul (Boris Zeebroek) and Soulwax (David Dewaele and Stephen Dewaele).

Topical Dancer track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Bel Deewee"0:42
2."Esperanto"3:34
3."Blenda"3:31
4."Hey"3:36
5."It Hit Me"5:33
6."Ich Mwen" (with Christiane Adigéry)4:17
7."Reappropriate"5:06
8."Ceci n'est pas un cliché"3:46
9."Huile Smisse"2:56
10."Mantra"4:21
11."Making Sense Stop"4:00
12."Haha"3:26
13."Thank You"5:51
Total length:50:43

Charts

Weekly charts
Weekly chart performance for Topical Dancer
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] 44

Year-end charts
Year-end chart performance for Topical Dancer
Chart (2022) Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 140

References
  1. Younes, Nadia (2 March 2022). "Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul review: Topical Dancer - The Skinny". The Skinny. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  2. Pilley, Max (4 March 2022). "Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul – 'Topical Dancer' review: a joyous, humorous headrush". NME. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  3. Torres, Eric (8 March 2022). "Charlotte Adigéry / Bolis Pupul: Topical Dancer". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  4. Willems, Jasper (10 March 2022). "Album Review: Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul – Topical Dancer". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  5. Watson, Kayleigh (25 May 2022). "Belgian electro-pop duo Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul on the power of humour and friendship". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  6. Peters, Daniel (6 November 2021). "Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul announce debut album, share new single 'Blenda'". NME. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  7. Smith, Thomas (22 November 2021). "Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul: Belgian electro-pop duo laughing in the face of everything". NME. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  8. Topical Dancer by Charlotte Adigéry, retrieved 4 April 2022
  9. Topical Dancer - Charlotte Adigéry, Bolis Pupul | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 24 April 2022
  10. "Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer - Review". DIY. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  11. "Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul: Topical Dancer review – wildly eclectic electropop". the Guardian. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul – Topical Dancer" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul – Topical Dancer" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  14. "Jaaroverzichten 2022" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.