Bar Pandora is the stage name of experimental alt-pop artist and producer Charlie Tophill, taken from a literary café in La Latina, Madrid, where she used to hang out with friends talking life, literature and feminism over red wine and fizzy sweets. Inspired by the empowerment these friendships engendered, Tophill started Bar Pandora in 2021 as a project to redress the balance of a life shadowed by self-imposed limitation and baseless inhibition.
Her shape-shifting electronic alt pop and first two EPs (2022 & 2023) earned Bar Pandora early support from BBC Radio 6 ’s Amy Lamé , Steve Lamaqc and Tom Robinson , and have seen her appear on BBC Radio 4 ’s Woman’s Hour .
Bar Pandora’s world is playfully sewn together from the offcuts of personal experience - field recordings, journal entries and improvised fragments build electrifying worlds of sound around harmonic synths, dynamic beats and rich, beguiling vocals.
Her live performances are earning her a solid fan base. Her shows are intriguing and exciting, adding sampling and live looping to a three-piece band, building electrifying worlds of sound to offset her beguiling crystalline vocals. In the words of one reviewer: “Bar Pandora's mesmerising live incarnation is going to knock your socks off. Charlie has an immense charisma & stage presence and the way [the band] played off each other to realise her unusual & haunting compositions is breath taking.” (Hot Music Live)
“An accomplished slice of synthy pop. I love the confidence and flow of the vocal, it has a very sophisticated feel.” - Fresh On The Net
“It's brilliant!” - Amy Lamé, BBC Radio 6
“With its swirling synths, it comes as such a pop anthem that it sounds as if she had much fun with it” - Glamglare
“Featuring dynamic beats and rich undercurrents, it’s a bold statement that sees Bar Pandora ready to confess on her forthcoming EP” - LOCK Magazine
Vice Vice Vice - Spotify YouTube
Website: www.barpandora.com
Instagram: @barpandora
Facebook: @barpandoramusic
TIkTok: @barpandora
Twitter: @barpandoramusic
YouTube: @barpandoramusic
Spotify: Bar Pandora
Photos by Sinead Patching