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)		 Letter to Yu
(2024)
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

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.

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]

The album was nominated for Best Electronic Record at the 2023 Libera Awards.[12][13]

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)[14] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 44

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Topical Dancer
Chart (2022) Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 140

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Younes, Nadia (2 March 2022). "Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul review: Topical Dancer - The Skinny". The Skinny. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Pilley, Max (4 March 2022). "Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul – 'Topical Dancer' review: a joyous, humorous headrush". NME. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Torres, Eric (8 March 2022). "Charlotte Adigéry / Bolis Pupul: Topical Dancer". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 Topical Dancer by Charlotte Adigéry, retrieved 4 April 2022
  9. 1 2 Topical Dancer - Charlotte Adigéry, Bolis Pupul | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 24 April 2022
  10. ↑ "Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer - Review". DIY. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul: Topical Dancer review – wildly eclectic electropop". the Guardian. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  12. ↑ Aniftos, Rania (22 March 2023). "Wet Leg Leads Nominations for 2023 Libera Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Garcia, Thania; Okusanya, Emanuel (16 June 2023). "Wet Leg, Sudan Archives and More Win Big at 2023 A2IM Libera Awards". Variety. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  14. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul – Topical Dancer" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  15. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul – Topical Dancer" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  16. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2022" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
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