“Cathartic alt-pop that manages to be simultaneously off-kilter and melodious” ~ The Times

SHORT BIO:

Shapeshifting experimental alt-pop fuelled by red wine and fizzy sweets, Bar Pandora is the critically acclaimed solo project of West-Midlands based artist/producer, Charlie Tophill . Named after a literary cafe in Madrid, Bar Pandora creates electrifying worlds of sound offset by beguiling vocals that have earned support from BBC Radio 6 's Amy Lamé , Steve Lamacq , Tom Robinson , and BBC Woman’s Hour .

FULL BIO:

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)