Charlotte and Bolis look very happy in this picture and so they should because they have just released a stunning debut album. They also look happy because that also happens to be how they naturally are. Chock full of positive vibes that pour out of them and into any audience they perform to. This shot was taken at the record launch in-store gig at Rough Trade East on Saturday where they played to a devoted and joyous crowd. It was the best buzz for a gig inside a shop I had ever been to. Charlotte thanked us ‘for our energy’ but really they were the ones generating the electric atmosphere which has become a hallmark of their gigs.
I have watched their trajectory since Charlotte’s first release in 2017 (they only officially recently became a duet but they always have been really) and it has been great to watch them grow as both performers and songwriters. Just before the pandemic I saw them at Oslo in Hackney and they were absolutely on fire and it felt like such a shame as they were just getting to that point when they felt like they were gonna blow up and then everything just stopped.
Obviously this happened to everyone but natural momentum is very hard to build as a new music act and even harder to keep as there is often a limited window of opportunity when you are ‘hot’ and can break through. I shouldn’t have worried. Charlotte and Bolis have come back in full force and have lost none of their infectious enthusiasm. And much more to the point, they used the downtime of lockdown extremely productively by making this superb album.
Firstly there isn’t a duff track on it. Every single one is a winner which is very rare these days. Each one tells its own story, each one has its own character and yet all somehow work together to make a truly satisfying whole. It feels like they have created a complete world and one which is uniquely their own. The music sounds so fresh and not quite pinnable to one genre. It’s pop and it’s also electronic (so I guess you could call it ‘poptronic’ which isn’t a thing but sorta making it a thing).
The hooks and melodies in each track are dynamite and they weave in all these contrasting elements, splices of R’N’B, house and techno that all somehow fuse together beautifully. And yet it is very much it’s own thing and has a genuinely unique feel and really doesn’t sound like anyone else I know. The production is in a class of its own and sounds better fully cranked up (which I recommend) than anything I have played on my stereo at home before but as the album is produced by Soulwax for their own Deewee label that does obviously makes sense. But what gives the record its charm and character are the lyrics which are personal. pertinent, poignant and just proper funny.
Tracks like ‘Esperanto’ and ‘Blenda’ exposes the racism they have received over the years whilst ‘It hit me’ deals with unwanted sexual attention growing up. But it is all done with a sharp wit and a humour that both disarms and then delivers in an infinitely more effective way than being too serious or preachy.
“Siri, can you tell me where I belong?”
In that one single line they brilliantly highlight the ridiculousness of trying to work out where you identify with if you are from one background but grew up somewhere else.
“I look like them but not to them/I sound like you but not to you”
They also downright take the piss. ‘Ceci n’est pas un cliche’ is a compilation of all the trite and generic statements you get in dance tracks.
I throw my hands up in the air/And I wave em like I just dont’ care.
It’s actually way too good to be a pisstake and has one of the most killer basslines ever. It makes my hair stand on end and generates such a dopamine hit I actually have to start the album at this track cos I can’t wait for it to come on.
The other track that takes the absolute piss is ‘Thank you’ which shines a very humorous light on all the bullshit advise and ‘constructive’ comments that have been thrust upon them along the way..but it is all done with a playfulness and warmth (which runs through all their work) that stops it being too catty.
Yes, I prefer my first Ep too!/Uhh, maybe I should make it less complex
And you discovered me right?/You’re the Columbus to my America.
I think it’s important to state at this stage that I am not really a lyric man. I can listen to a song a million times and still have no clue what they are saying and when you do finally work out what they are singing it is generally a deep disappointment . I actually lay on the sofa when this record first arrived and read the lyrics on the cover as I listened to it. I haven’t done that since I was a teenager. I should probably point out that they sing in both English and French so you might need google translate at the ready.
This album should get a ton of attention and acclaim and reckon it deserves a Mercury nomination at the very least. And hopefully it will sell by the bucketload. It is at this point that I should state that this is not an endorsment. I am not on the payroll, just a fan.
But I would like to say Topical dancer is now available in all good record shops and a bunch of other places: