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‘Would you breastfeed your own father?’ The goofy, spiky world of art-pop duo Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul
Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are developing the personal themes in their art-pop after their 2022 debut used witty dance music to address race, colonialism and online culture. On a tour of their home city of Ghent, they explain how local history and family life feed into their playful, sometimes unsettling songs and videos.
Their single “Googoo Gaga” takes inspiration from the Mammelokker, an 18th-century relief depicting a daughter breastfeeding her father, and turns the image into a comic video with possible political undertones. Adigéry and Pupul grew up in Ghent but met in 2013 through musicians David and Stephen Dewaele of Soulwax; their debut album, *Topical Dancer*, came out in 2022 and included songs about fitting in, language policing and allyship.
In short
- The duo are exploring personal lives in their art-pop.
- Ghent’s Mammelokker inspired their “Googoo Gaga” video.
- Their 2022 debut mixed dance music with social commentary.
Explained simply
Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are Belgian musicians who make art-pop, a style that mixes pop with experimental sounds and ideas. They grew up in Ghent and met through musicians David and Stephen Dewaele, known as Soulwax. Their 2022 album, Topical Dancer, used dance music and humour to explore race, colonialism and life online.
Ghent’s history and the artists’ family lives inform their songs and videos. One local landmark, the Mammelokker, is an 18th-century carving showing a daughter breastfeeding her imprisoned father; it inspired their song “Googoo Gaga”. The duo’s work often uses absurd or unsettling images, leaving listeners to consider the social and personal meanings behind them.
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