Album of the month | Charlotte de Witte by Charlotte de Witte

Artist: Charlotte de Witte
Title: Charlotte de Witte
Label: KXTNT
Released: 7 November

Sounds like: A resolute declaration of artistry from a producer who could have gone commercial, but chose not to

Charlotte de Witte

When she burst unapologetically through the membrane of public consciousness in 2018-19, it was reported that Charlotte de Witte played in excess of 130 shows in a calendar year. Whilst admirable, the feat was clearly unsustainable. No sooner she became the anointed "one-to-watch", concerns were raised about burnout and even exploitation.

That year on Ibiza, she headlined IMS Grand Finale and made her presence known from DC10 to Amnesia. The industry had found its newest poster girl - "Techno's great young hope". And with the backing came the backlash - the millstone of resentment and scorn around the neck, from within an industry still largely unwilling to confront its problem with sexism.

In 2022, Charlotte adopted a different approach. That summer she played a single headline date at Hï Ibiza under a party in her own name. It's the same strategy we saw replicated this year: a sole island appearance collaborating with TNL, this time at the group's shiny new [UNVRS] club.

Even more recently, Charlotte broke into the top ten in DJ Mag's prestigious Top 100 DJs poll. Her ninth placed finish made her made her the highest ranked Techno artist. Again.

Never before has there been a Techno-identifying artist seemingly so ready to crossover into the mainstream. The outstanding question being, did she take the plunge on her first artist album?

Charlotte de Witte

If you seek acclimatisation, you are in the wrong place. There's no decompression chamber; no gentle easing in. Forget a beatless intro. From the moment you hit play, gravity is suspended and we are catapulted headfirst into the kind of Techno assault familiar in Charlotte's sets.

In that sense, Charlotte doesn't present as anything we know she isn't. The album is an unfractured mirror of her artistry as a DJ. That will immediately appeal to her sizeable fanbase. In the album notes, the producer writes, "It's raw. It's real. It's who I am." So far, no lies told.

Whether this bold declaration of autonomy can attract any newfound fans might be harder to estimate.

Historically, dancefloor-ready Techno doesn't have a good record of sweeping up casual listeners. Even if Charlotte's profile and brand seem primed to lean into more commercial territory, ultimately, that is a route she has chosen to avoid at this career juncture.

For that alone, Charlotte, so often the unfair target of self-professed purists/chronically-online internet trolls (delete as applicable), should gain some much deserved cachet from a demographic too quick to dismiss her talents in the past.

Not that we'll be holding our breath. Incels gonna incel, however this toxicity might like to play dress up under the vaneer of gatekeeping. The 'concerned citizens' of their own nefarious corner of the internet.

Since her earliest releases under her given name, Charlotte has championed the functionality of her productions. Nothing changes here. It's music to get your stomp on to in the throb of the dancefloor. It isn't particularly nuanced, and neither does it need to be.

It's music that feels most appropriate for raw warehouse spaces or cavernous arenas; where the air outside bites with a chill, but inside rages like a furnace. Very much like her recent album launch at Sugar Factory during ADE week, as an example fresh in the memory.

As a body of work, Charlotte de Witte has Acid pumping in its veins. Opener The Realm subscribes to this (and had this reviewer flicking through his Rolodex of music folders to rediscover Patrice Bäumel/Adana Twin's 2018 track Roar).

The space-age synthia is followed up on Become, Domine and After The Fall. The latter has a breakdown which extenuates the contralto voice of Dead Can Dance frontwoman Lisa Gerrard - as divine as the best operatic Trance was back in the day.

With its ritualistic chanting, Vidmahe is one which could appease the Psytrance community, while the album outlier, if one must be picked, is surely Higher - a mid-title divergence to explore broken beat. This will either be welcomed or feel misplaced, depending on your mood or taste.

Featuring the lyrical flow of Comma Dee, The Heads That Know is the culprit most likely to mount an unlikely chart invasion. Fans of the recent Chris Lorenzo/Max Styler/Audio Bully's London's On Fire or Gorgon City/John Summit's Is Everybody Having Fun? should take a look.

Some followers might be surprised to learn that Charlotte's husband-in-waiting, Enrico Sangiuliano - a companion she has so often shared a booth or studio with - fails to make a cameo across the 11 tracks. Though conspicuous, his absence reinforces the album's core function: this is Charlotte de Witte's "sonic identity in its entirety" without dilution or compromise.

Who better to sum up, than Charlotte herself?

"I'm a club kid, always will be. This is a true DJ album. Every track on this record makes me want to dance." No arguments here. Ignore what the trolls say. Charlotte de Witte is the scene poster girl who could've gone commercial, but chose not to.

Highlights: The Realm, Vidmahe, The Heads That Know, After The Fall