In this interview feature, we get to know the most radicalist up and coming stars on the planet.     

This time we speak with Belgian wunderkind WWWater.

Early last year, Belgian-French artist Charlotte Adigéry caught our attention with a new project - WWWater. A musical lifetime thanks to her family meant that performing and singing was nothing new to the artist, and after forming a band and contributing to many others, the path was well underway for the young talent. It wasn’t until a magical encounter with a waterfall in Martinique (a place that forms part of Adigéry’s familial heritage), that WWWater as we know it emerged.

There’s no doubt a spiritual, otherworldly quality to the genreless sound in tracks like ‘Pink Letters’ and ‘WWWater’, from the artist’s debut EP, La Falaise. More recently, Charlotte Adigéry has been on tour with the fantastical Glasgow band Young Fathers, performing a couple of her old tracks, but mostly treating audiences to new sounds in a high-octane, punk showcase. Anyone who’s seen WWWater live will have had their appetites whet for the next load of music, sure to be even more creative and true to the heart and soul of this effervescent musician.

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TMR: Hey Charlotte, how are you? You’re currently on tour supporting Young Fathers, how has the experience been so far?

Hiya! Couldn’t be better! I have been living on a cloud since the tour with Young Fathers. The band and crew received us so well and they apparently picked us to do the support very thoughtfully. It’s been a match made in heaven and I’m very grateful to be part of this adventure. And the UK audience is a dream. Such warmth and support...

TMR: There’s a shared sparsity, hidden depth and spiritual presence in both yours and Young Fathers' music, but where does this sound originate for you?

Happy that state comes across in our music as well! I found that music helps me tune into what matters most for me, being only here and now and connecting with people beyond the ego. That’s where I go to when I’m on stage, it’s easier for me to channel into that on stage than anywhere else actually. I try to stay as self-unaware as possible so I can tune into where making music comes from for me. From a gut-feeling. Plus the stories in my music are mostly autobiographical concepts that I explore; call it soul-searching, for lack of a better word.

TMR: Speaking of origins, some listeners may have first come across you via Soulwax’s Belgica, which featured your track ‘The Best Thing’. How did that collaboration come about?

Felix van Groeningen, the director of Belgica asked Stephen and David Dewaele to make the soundtrack to the film. During that time they were looking for someone to interpret one of their songs in the film, so I was supposed to lipsync a Microkorg-sung lead vocal. I was already super excited to feature in the film without any real musical contribution, but then Felix decided he wanted a more vulnerable, emotional ending so he asked Stephen and David to write a song that would fit the new ending. The brothers asked me because they’d heard from people that I was a good singer (their words!) and so we tried out some things and I ended up interpreting their song.

TMR: Had you been making music for a while prior for that? How did you first get into making music?

Yes, I had. When I was 18 I started a band with some friends and family, it was funky pop and we spent infinite hours in the cellar of my cousin’s house to rehearse. I always felt the music-virus but when I started with this band, I felt it was something that was going to stay for life. My mom sings as well so I always loved singing, it was like another way of communicating between us. We sang and danced a lot at home. She learned me how to sing in harmony for example...

After my first band I started to say 'yes' to everybody who needed a singer in their band. I did reggae, blues, dance, and so on… Until I ended up singing with two popular Belgian acts and I felt like I had my own story to tell. That’s how WWWater was born.



TMR: Like yourself, Soulwax is a Belgian based project, who are some of your other favourite acts from the country?

Soulwax is absolutely amazing, we had the honour to do some support shows for them with my DEEWEE release (made with Bolis Pupul). I’ve seen the show quite a bit but I still cannot sit/stand still whenever they’re playing. They transcend any geographical border, they make universal music.

I really love ALL the artists they collaborate with on DEEWEE, as for my compatriots Boris Pupul, Asa Moto and The Future Sound of Antwerp are masterpieces waiting to be discovered by the masses.

I love Hong Kong Dong for their playfulness and exquisite taste. I love Hiatus, a hardcore band from Liège, I love Joy Wellboy, The Germans, Raketkanon, Tristan, Beraadgeslagen and... so many more.

TMR: Belgium has such a rich and varied music scene, what do you think the secret is there?

Belgium is a rather new country, they were part of The Netherlands until 1839, so I feel like we are still in the creation of a national identity. You could compare musical Belgium to a studious and curious 20-year old…  There’s a certain playful exploration in the musical landscape of Belgium, but it’s hard to speak about a Belgian sound. We still need to grow out of making what already exists. And tell our own story. Ours can be as exciting! Jacques Brel was well aware of that!

I also feel like there’s a place for all kinds of arts in Belgium. Art seems fairly democratic, from my perspective. We have cultural centers in every town and village, music contests, a LOT of festivals and you can study arts for free! But we’re still working on including the ‘new Belgians’ in that landscape… Although a lot of platforms try their best to do so.

TMR: Although of Belgian nationality, you also have Martinique and Guadeloupe heritage. Do you also take inspiration from these cultures in your songwriting?

I actually have the French identity but always lived in Belgium, yes. I do, more and more. These two countries have such a rich musical identity. We have Zouk, Biguine, lent Kompa from the Haitians etc. We suffered the same history as the Afro-Americans, which a lot of today’s music comes from. It is such a rich source of inspiration and I’ve inherited that gut-related connection to music from my family. We spent hours singing and dancing together, my aunts encouraging the younger cousins to perform for them, to Shabba Ranks and Edith Piaf.



TMR: Your first single under WWWater was the prayer-like, alternative dance track ‘WWWater’. How was the initial reception of the debut?

I tried not to get too self-conscious again about how people would receive it. It was my first EP and I feel like I’m learning so much about myself and my musical identity by putting myself out there and playing live, so I see the first EP as a first little chapter in a long story.

The music I make now has evolved a lot, it’s rougher, dirtier and has new dimensions to it. I hope people liked the EP off course but I mostly hope they keep their ears open for what’s coming next.

TMR: Following on from that, we had ‘Pink Letters’, a gentler song with an important message as portrayed in the music video. Does living in the present and cherishing your friends and family help to keep you grounded?

Yes! Friendship, love and self-love keep me grounded.

TMR: Both of those tracks feature on your debut EP, La Falaise, released last September. Have any of the EP songs become your favourite to play live?

‘Mine Yours’ and ‘WWWater’ still make a lot of sense to me. ‘Mine Yours’ sounds innate and natural. ‘WWWater’ contains all the elements I was exploring at that time. The samples, the simple but effective voices. We only play those two live now, all the other songs are new.

TMR: Where your sound is arguably most different is on ‘Mine Yours’, with those electronic and vocal loops, soothing guitars frets and your pure voice, What does this song mean to you?

I felt so free of any inspirational blockage when I made that song. I didn’t have any intentions making it, I was just having fun and I realise that that’s when my music sounds best. The lyrics tell the story of an Italian couple who immigrated to Belgium to work in the coal mines (+/- 250,000 Italians did immigrate to Belgium after WWII to work in the coal and steel industry.) They worked so hard to have a new and better life, that they lost the most precious they shared.

TMR: It’s almost been half a year since the EP, so what’s next for WWWater?

We’re going to release a single marking the new sound and dimensions of WWWater in May.
Then we’re going to focus on our live shows and make the best show we can for the festivals. After summer I’m going to start writing the album. See how far I get by myself!



-Hannah Thacker