Bolis Pupul – Letter to Yu

Such was the force of Charlotte Adigéry’s character on her remarkable 2022 collaborative record with Bolis Pupul, Topical Dancer, that the latter was never going to be front and centre, even though the album was very much a joint effort that saw the two Belgian avant-gardists meld their ideas to thrilling effect. Now, though, the producer is stepping forward with his own LP, one that maintains the inventive electronic flourishes that fans of his work with Adigéry will recognise whilst also heading in his own, deeply personal direction. Letter to Yu sees Pupul, born Boris Zeebroek, reckon with his East Asian roots and the way in which they have shaped him as a person and informed his work as a musician.

In listening to his beats in the past, it was always possible to get a sense of him blending East Asian influences – Yellow Magic Orchestra, in particular, hung heavy – with Western synthpop stylings. On Letter to Yu, though, that crossover is at the core of the record; it was inspired by a trip to Hong Kong to reconnect with his heritage after the sudden death of his mother and, sure enough, the neon pulse of Kowloon is readily detectable in the shiny electropop of ‘Completely Half’, ’Spicy Crab’ and ‘Ma Tau Wai Road’, as well as a standout track named after the bustling district itself. Elsewhere, he finds room for atmospheric reflection, especially on the gorgeously woozy closer ‘Cosmic Rendez-Vous’; it all adds up to an endearingly intimate album that captures the thrill of Zeebroek’s immersion in his ancestry.