Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul – Mainland Madinina

Today, acclaimed Belgian duo Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul announce Mainland Madinina, due February 5th via DEEWEE / Because Music. The new album is their first collaborative album in almost 5 years and follows their globally-praised 2022 debut Topical Dancer. More personal in its focus but no less ambitious, the new album explores grief, parenthood, lineage and colonial history through the duo’s distinctive blend of electronic pop, dance-punk delivered with their signature sharp, irreverent humor. They also share new single “From Healer to Dealer” and announce 2027 North American and European tour dates

The album also retains the satirical edge that defined Topical Dancer, including new single “From Healer to Dealer.”

Produced with Stephen & David Dewaele, the track is a hilarious and ridiculous dialogue between “Grace” and “Ruben,” two wellness-obsessed maniacs who Adigéry and Pupul use to explore the complex and often confused vernacular of health culture.

The album reflects on family, belonging and the histories we carry and is named for their respective places of origin – for Pupul, mainland China where his grandparents are from and Hong Kong where his mother is from; and Madinina, the Indigenous name for the Caribbean island of Martinique, where for Adigéry’s mother is from. Its title imagines a meeting point between two seemingly distant places, questioning the boundaries between mainland and island, and creating a shared space in which their stories can sit alongside one another.

The record grew out of conversations between the two friends as their lives changed. In the years since Topical Dancer was recorded, both have become parents, while Adigéry has also experienced the loss of her father to Alzheimer’s disease. Pupul’s solo album Letter to Yu, inspired by journeys to his late mother’s homeland of Hong Kong, brought his own family history into focus. Together, these experiences led the pair to explore the parallels between their backgrounds coming together in Belgium – from Pupul’s grandparents’ Chinese restaurant in Aalst to Adigéry’s mother’s cocktail bar, Madinina, in Ghent.

Written in Ghent and Martinique, Mainland Madinina moves between intimate songwriting and the duo’s familiar electronic intensity. The pair returned to the fundamentals of songwriting, working with little more than a guitar to create songs that could not hide behind production. The result is a record that makes space for vulnerability while retaining the energy, wit and unpredictability that have always defined their collaborations.

Soulwax once again assisted as mentors-slash-co-producers on Mainland Madinina, and Adigéry describes their contribution as invaluable. “They’re people who can really inspire us when we get stuck – they invite us to go deeper, to really grasp the intention behind the song,” she says. Adds Pupu,: “They’re still the musical chiropractors – they really know where to push when stuck.”

At its heart, Mainland Madinina is about what we inherit, what we choose to carry and how we find a sense of belonging. Where Topical Dancer confronted the absurdities of contemporary life through provocation and humour, the new album turns towards the duo’s own histories, finding connections between personal experience and wider questions of identity, memory and community. It is a record shaped by change and loss, but also by the sustaining power of friendship and the possibility of making something new from the past.

CHARLOTTE ADIGÉRY & BOLIS BUPUL 2027 TOUR DATES

Feb 21 Cologne, DE – Club Volta

Feb 23 Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso

Feb 24 Antwerp, BE – De Roma

Feb 25 Brussels, BE – AB

Feb 26 Paris, FR – Élysée Montmartre

Mar 01 Glasgow, UK – Classic Grand

Mar 02 Manchester, UK – Gorilla

Mar 04 London, UK – Here @ Outernet

Mar 05 Bristol, UK – Lantern Hall

Mar 06 Lille, FR – Grand Mix

Mar 09 Hamburg, DE – Mojo

Mar 10 Copenhagen, DK – Vega

Mar 11 Berlin, DE – Astra

Mar 13 Warsaw, PL – Oczki

Mar 23 Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom

Mar 24 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall

Mar 26 Portland, OR – Polaris Hall

Mar 27 Vancouver, BC – Hollywood Theatre

Mar 28 Seattle, WA – Neumos

Mar 30 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall

Apr 02 Washington, DC – The Atlantis

Apr 03 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw

#charlotteandbolis