CHARLOTTE ADIGÉRY Get acquainted with the stripped back sounds of this soulful singer

Charlotte Adigéry

“When I’m on stage and I start singing, I get into this place where time doesn’t exist. It’s like a kind of meditation but really dynamic. I lose all self-consciousness, am impulsive and completely in tune with the audience and the frequencies of the music. It’s transcendent.” Charlotte Adigéry is talking about the ethereal, psychedelic performances that make the gigs of this Belgian Caribbean talent such a must-see. They’ve also garnered her fans including Neneh Cherry, who Adigéry supported on the music icon’s most recent tour. “I do this Slits cover and it turns out that Neneh was on the recording of that song,” says Adigéry. “She saw me play in Tasmania and stayed for the whole show. When we played that song, she was in the front row dancing and cheering, which was mind blowing.”

Born and still based in Ghent — a pretty Flemish town that couldn’t really be described as multicultural — to a Guadeloupean father and a Martiniquan mother, Adigéry stands out. “It’s fun. It’s like a village, but sometimes I miss diversity and the freedom from having to defend or define who I am as a black woman. It’s exhausting to be walking around, feeling people staring,” she confides. Adigéry writes music in English, French and sometimes Creole, and releases both under her own name and her alias, WWWater. This multiplicity means her music is defiantly genre fluid. “I love all types of music, but what I am mainly inspired by is stubbornness — artists who are fearless and create with freedom,” she says. “I see myself as a sponge. I soak it all in, strip it back and make it minimal, raw and my own.” Like a diamond that sparkles uniquely from each angle, Adigéry reveals different sides of herself depending on the moniker she chooses. “Charlotte Adigéry is a little more polished, without being plastic. WWWater is rawer with a punk vibe, it goes to the bare essentials — I want it to be nasty and filthy.” As the former, her second EP, Zandoli, is danceable, poppy and electronic — a co-production with fellow Ghent natives and label bosses Soulwax. Lead single ‘High Lights’ is a joyous middle finger at people who try to shame her for her love of wearing all manner of colourful, synthetic wigs. Because, rather than being a kind of mask — much like her musical personas — they reveal alternative aspects of this multifaceted star. “For black women, wearing wigs is part of our culture. It’s a way to celebrate yourself, it’s like, who am I going to be next?,” she reflects. “You can see the look in the eyes of the women in the salon: ‘I’m going to be beautiful in an hour — yes!’ And it’s such a nice way to treat yourself.” Meanwhile as WWWater, she takes a very relatable swipe at social media on her song ‘Screen’. “It’s a daily struggle; it’s an intrusion. It’s not that I think that people are being rude or needy — not at all. It’s just the fact of being constantly available on so many different channels.” And, of course, with her success, the level of contact with fans and potential collaborators has increased. “I appreciate the human feeling behind it, and I would love it if people knew that I’m super grateful — but let’s all stop, please. Let’s all love each other when we see each other.”

CHARLOTTE wears VIVIENNE WESTWOOD vintage corset, ZARA trousers, own hat. Styling SARANNE WOODCROFT. Hair LAURAINE BAILEY. Make-up MIN SANDHU at CAROL HAYES MANAGEMENT.