AUSTIN, Texas — When it comes to dance music, there isn’t much humor in the DJ culture that now tends to dominate the genre.
But Belgian duo Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul approach their brand of electro pop with a touch of absurdism that borrows from post-disco, new wave and art rock bands like The Talking Heads – they even give a nod to this with their track, “Making Sense Stop.”
Humor and absurdism may sound an odd match for a pair making music that hits on themes of racism, xenophobia, cultural appropriation and vanity in social media. But to Adigéry and Pupul, sometimes the best way to take on ignorant people is a gentle mocking.
And that’s exactly how the two opened their Sunday afternoon set on the Tito’s Stage at Weekend 1 of the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
“Go back to your country where you belong,” Adigéry sang on “Blenda,” which kicked off their performance. “Siri, can you tell me where I belong?”
Adigéry, whose family comes from the French colonies of Martinique and Guadaloupe, and Pupul, who is of European and Chinese descent, rehash the questions and comments they faced growing up in Europe and turn them into cathartic dance tunes.
“Who wants to have a daytime rave?” Adigéry asked the crowd at Zilker Park to big cheers.
In true rock star fashion, Adigéry and Pupul frequently jumped out in front of the stage to perform among the front row of the audience, and it didn’t take long before the crowd was dancing along and responding to cues from the pair.
On “Making Sense Stop,” Pupul had everyone “feeling kind of funky” as he played the bass guitar with the occasional “freeze” before the beat dropped again and the dancing resumed. On “HAHA,” the song is simply built around Adigéry laughing in all ways imaginable, which is really best when performed live.
PHOTOS: ACL 2023 - Weekend 1
The dancing in the tent was already at “daytime rave” level when Adigéry and Pupul performed “It Hit Me.” The two didn’t miss a word while performing the song, which features them taking turns telling stories of sexual awakenings in the most dramatic tone possible.
The lyrics behind “Thank You” proved the perfect closer: “This is our swan song and we’ll be stepping down soon,” Adigéry said. “No thank you/No no no no really thank you/I am humbled by your presence.”