Heaven, London
“Quality, unity, variety, harmony.”
Charlotte Adigéry announces herself to the fray: “Integrity is my name”. Sharing the stage with her illustrious counterpart, Bolis Pupul, the stage seems set, comfortably hosting their imposing presence as they colourfully ignite their breakout LP of last year, Topical Dancer.
Unbeknownst to many of us, the stage was soon to transform. With dance-fuelled throwbacks to the colourful days of Talking Heads, ‘Making Sense Stop’ marked Pupul centre-stage, freewheeling his bass guitar whilst invited audience members furiously danced-off against one another on-stage.
The true apex, however, came moments later within Adigéry’s apoplectic solo track ‘Paténipat’ which crescendos to a restless orgasm (pertaining“zandoli pa té ni pat”: a Creole mnemonic which eludes to “the gecko didn’t have any legs”), surging with an indescribable endorphin rush. Along with the incessant “Pa-pa! Pa-pa!” chants from the crowd, the scene seemed akin to a Top of the Pops episode, fuelled by a hit of synth-injected adrenaline amidst the surreal environment of dancing cheek-to-jowl with the Belgian artists.
As with any rush, the comedown offers a revealing dose of reality. “I like these parties where you don’t know where they’re really gonna go”, Pupul vibrantly remarks, as the audience are sheepishly guided back to their assumed domain. As the duo’s show resumes, Adigéry laughs uncontrollably; a definitively masked one which tightropes ebullience and sadness, providing the genesis of their breakout track, ‘Haha’. Resembling one of most infectiously upbeat and haunting dance rhythms heard in a while, the live atmosphere tonight compounds this altogether, reveling amongst the resonating soundwaves of art-pop-meets-dance-pop, akin to their contemporaries U.S. Girls, as Adigéry stomachs one resounding line through it all: “Guess you had to be there.”
Beyond the vibrant, dance-illustrated facade to the duo’s work, it is Adigéry’s lyrical persona which confounds audiences and listeners alike, holding in her grasp pertinent views on sexism, sexuality and racism in our modern world. ‘1,618’ champions diversity in its deconstruction of today’s beauty standards (“Now have a look at my asymmetrical face, admire my asymmetrical gaze”); ‘Reappropriate’ distinctly reclaims one’s sexuality (“Reappropriate your sexuality, you’ve got the right to femininity”); ‘Thank You’ culminates Adigéry’s sarcastically-cutting, passive-aggressive tonalities answering the critics, “Yes, I prefer my first EP, too / Maybe I should make it less complex / What the hell was I even thinking?”.
It is through this near-perfect convergence between the colourful and the cutting which confines their live show to an entrancing thrill-ride. Basking in an aura of collective harmony and orgasmic celebration, Adigéry and Pupul exude an effortless and inviting passion to their domain, undoubtedly marking musical nods to the older likes of Kraftwerk, the late Daft Punk and compatriots Soulwax. Leaving the crowd enamoured (if slightly exhausted), one can only hope this is the beginning of a long-standing kinship which has ultimately birthed one of the most jubilant nights of the year.
8/10
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul's latest LP, Topical Dancer, is out now via Deewee and can be found below.
Photo is courtesy of Alex Vanhee whose work can be found here.
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