LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY is out now!
Image: Supplied.
Naarm/Melbourne-based producer duo Close Counters have dropped their new album LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY. To celebrate, they are taking us through the collection of songs track-by-track.
"'LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY' is a concept album about an idea where we want to transport the listeners to a club, or collective, that's manifesting a better world through art. It's both a metaphor for the power of collective energy in dance music that can give life to the people, and literal in the sense that there's a collective behind the Close Counters album. A place where you learn, it's mysterious and intriguing. Never quite giving everything away," the duo share.
Close Counters will be hitting the road on a national tour, kicking off Brisbane/Meanjin on March 1. The run of shows will continue on to Bundjalung/Byron Bay, Woolyungah/Wollongong, Eora/Sydney, Nipaluna/Hobart and Naarm/Melbourne, before wrapping up in Ngunnawal/Canberra on March 29. The duo will then head to the UK for performances this May and June. Tickets are on sale now!
WATERFALL
WATERFALL is the opener to LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY and the only instrumental song on the record. The idea is built around a single synth arp that cascades over the course of the track. Finn came up with the chords and melody a few years ago that the track is built around, and then we slowly added other instruments, including a guitar cameo from Adam Halliwell from Mildlife. After deciding this was track one on the album, we started playing it as the opener for our live set with the full band. It's perfect as it's dynamic and starts from basically nothing, giving people a bit of time to transition out of the house music; then, by the time the groove comes in, we've got them grooving!
CONSTANT LOVE
CONSTANT LOVE is definitely the sauciest Close Counters song yet, thanks to the handiwork of the amazing Jace XL on feature duties.The song started around a loop of Lucky playing a classic funk groove on Kit, and then Finn and Matt came up with some slick chords and an iconic bass line at our friend Harvey Causon's studio in London.The song also features the small choir we assembled, which we'll touch on later, singing the bridge refrain: "Can't bring me up / please don't bring me down". This writing was inspired by classic lines from acts like George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic in the 70s and 80s - just a group of singers recording together in unison, prioritising being playful over perfect pitch.
ON THE MOVE!
This song started at our friend Toby, aka Butter Bath's studio in Sydney, when we happened to be there at the same time as our friend Tiana, with whom we'd been trying to write a song for years. It was fitting that we were away from home, as we came up with the idea of writing a song about the idea of not feeling settled whilst constantly being on the move for touring and music. Finn had the bass line and groove already recorded in a demo that we built on, and then we added a hook built around some bright piano stabs recorded on Toby's upright piano. After Tiana came up with some amazing melodies and lyrics, it was pretty clear the vocal refrain would be a long shouted ON THE MOOOOVE! - so we all jumped on the same mic together to record it, and it was then bolstered later by our small choir, who doubled multiple layers on top.
CLOSE TO ME
When we set up to record Lucky on drums at Hopestreet Recordings studio - we had several songs like ON THE MOVE! and WATERFALL, which had very clear structures, and we knew exactly what we wanted to record. Once we finished tracking these songs, we used the rest of our time to leave the microphones running and develop some fresh ideas. CLOSE TO ME is one of the ideas we recorded on the spot. Afterwards, we took it to Jace XL and Tiaryn, who helped us come up with melodies and lyrics for this tune and a couple of others. Inspired by the works of disco legends like Bohannon, we chose to come up with two really simple vocal parts that played against each other. We recorded some guide vocals and then set up at Rolling Stock studios in Collingwood to record our mini choir, consisting of Annalisa Fernandez, Tiaryn, Rara Zulu, Kee'ahn, Jace XL and Kid Heron. We had heaps of fun putting the parts down, and with this song, we were able to take advantage of having so many people in the one room and got down a tonne of claps, ad-libs and whoops as well.
DUSK
DUSK is another idea that started in the Hopestreet sessions - built upon a marimba loop Allan played on the Nord. At the halfway point of the album, this track is a nice slow burner and, therefore, the most appropriate song to play at dusk. The song combines a rigid drum machine loop and Lucky's live drumming, which is much looser and more fluid. Finn came up with the vocal part, and he and Ryo recorded it with a whispery, lo-fi touch, inspired by the vocal production of artists like Unknown Mortal Orchestra. When putting down the guitar parts for the album, we had a lot of space to work with this one, and Ryo came up with a bunch of janky bluesy guitar parts inspired by acts like Saint Jermaine. The backing vocals and ooohs were done by Annalisa and Jace XL, when we had leftover time in the studio after recording the group vocal - helping to create an extra lush soundscape of voices.
WAITING ALL NIGHT
WAITING ALL NIGHT is a more personal account of love's journey told by Allysha. This song has been a staple of our live set for years, and we began playing it well before settling on a studio version of the track. The benefit of this is that each time we played it we could take it in different directions and come up with new ideas whilst improvising. We'd then try to take note of that as best as possible, even through an iPhone video and voice memo. When it came time to cut a studio version of the song, we knew what ideas we had and didn't like in a live setting. A highlight of having this song in the setlist well before release was that we got to play it out in our EU/UK tour last year, including at Ronnie Scott's jazz club - where we got to perform it with Finn on a grand piano and Allan on a fender Rhodes.
FEELING TAKES OVER ME'
FEELING TAKES OVER ME covers the longing for freedom through movement. This song started when Finn and Lyric had a session in LA in 2023. Finn had several song sketches on hand, and one where the demo was called FEELING TAKES OVER ME, despite it not having any lyrics or vocals yet. This set up a great starting point for lyrics writing, as she started to explore the ecstasy that comes with submitting to dancing – "Why not just move where the music leads / don't stop just move where the music needs". This song also features visuals shot on location in LA by the incredible Holy Smoke Photography. Finn handled the creative direction under his design moniker, Piewack - using frame-by-frame animation and different textures, he tried to create a world that explores the song's vibrant and colourful nature.
FREEDOM WE'RE NEEDING'
FREEDOM WE'RE NEEDING has a samba feel, inspired by Brazilian artists such as Sergio Mendes and João Gilberto. Finn and Shiv started this song in London last year, where they had a mega session churning through ideas. Similar to other songs on the album, Shiv wrote about the concept of growth, with the hook – "Mindset on healing releasing the freedom we're needing". Through the verses she extends compassion to others around her: "Being all alone, your gardens overgrown, just let me try and tend it for you".When recording the vocals at Rolling StockStudioss, we also got to use some leftover time to overdub grand piano on many songs, including this one. Finn put down a bunch of punchy stabs and some shimmering licks on top throughout.We also had the idea for a massive group vocal for the B section, inspired by big Latin sing-alongs. Shiv layered umpteen versions of herself singing the line, and then we added a stack of harmonies from Allysha, followed by Finn and Allan singing parts to bolster the low end.
'I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU'
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU is a collective message to lift those around you or someone in need. This is the focus track of LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY and one of the most ambitious Close Counters tracks to date, featuring the full band plus mini choir, and added top lines from Micheala Jaye. We brought the demo to Jace and Tiaryn to help with melody and lyric writing. With such strong influences in gospel and house music, we set out to write something with an uplifting message to resonate with the listener. We came up with the chorus, which inspired the song's namesake - and then some extra vocal refrains: "I'll be / I'll be right there and Keep on / Keep on pushing through". When arranging the song and looping those parts, they sounded so powerful and played off each other so well that we never wanted the song to end. So we made the song an 8-minute odyssey to finish off the album and drive the message home, complete with an extra percussion solo from Robyn and a synth solo from Finn. This is definitely the song we're most excited to perform on our upcoming tour to promote the album!
LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY is out now!
CLOSE COUNTERS LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY TOUR DATES
Presented by Good Intent, Music Australia and UNDR Ctrl
SAT 1 MAR | BLACKBEAR LODGE, MEANJIN/BRISBANE QLD
THU 6 MAR | BEACH HOTEL, BUNDJALUNG/BYRON BAY NSW
FRI 7 MAR | HALFWAY BAR, WOOLYUNGAH/WOLLONGONG NSW
SAT 8 MAR | RED RATTLER, EORA/SYDNEY NSW
SAT 15 MAR | ALTAR, NIPALUNA/HOBART TAS
SAT 22 MAR | THE CROXTON, NAARM/MELBOURNE VIC
SAT 29 MAR | GANG GANG, NGUNNAWAL/CANBERRA ACT
SAT 26 APR | BRICK LANE JAZZ FESTIVAL, LONDON UK
SAT 3 MAY | JAM ON THE HORIZON FESTIVAL, BRISTOL UK
FRI 13 JUN | RONNIE SCOTT'S JAZZ CLUB, LONDON UK
SAT 14 JUN | RONNIE SCOTT'S JAZZ CLUB, LONDON UK
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