Day 16! Back to the start of our rotation. My second favorite pop album last year was “Topical Dancer”, a collaborative project between Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul. I’ve been familiar with Ms. Adigéry since the Zandoli EP, but this is the first full-length foray we’ve gotten from her. There’s quite a few inspired, artsy dance tracks on this album, each with their own personality and voice. Esperanto is a punchy number that has a wacky bassline, with some funny lines that kind of poke at political correctness and the ‘white habitus’ complex. The bridge is particularly funny, slowing down the track to suggest some politically correct alternatives to common phrases, satirically advising the listener to ask for an “African American” instead of a “Black Americano” when ordering coffee. It’s quite silly. The comedy continues on Blenda, one of the more uptempo tracks with these peppy, zonked-out dance breaks as Charlotte discusses the difficulty of growing up black in England. It deconstructs the idea of nationality and identity with a razor-sharp wit. I also love “Hey,” which is much more stripped back and soft and is ultimately an ode to multiculturalism and integration. I’d love to continue deconstructing the pathology of each song, but each of them has its own excellent concept. It Hit Me, Ceci n’est pas un cliche, Mantra, Making Sense Stop, and Thank You are all so uniquely clever, and the catchy beats just elevate the wit on display to an 11.
