REFRACTIONS available via Exist. Recordings: https://fanlink.to/CloseCounters_RefractionsEP

Bass: Paul Bender

Artwork: Piewack x Jack O'Sullivan

FILMCLIP

TIP OF MY TONGUE FT. Laneous

monthly updated playlist, based on DEEPHOUSE! ACIDJAZZ! FUTURESOUL! RnB!

Naarm/Melbourne-based Close Counters’ diverse soundscape sits at the crossroads of house, neo-soul, broken beat and disco. Their 2023 Music Victoria Award-winning album, ‘SOULACOASTA II’ secured their spot as one of the top talents in their class, with the duo tirelessly sourcing niche samples from films and records on trips across the globe. The LP was touted by tastemakers Gilles Peterson, Folamour, Jamz Supernova and landed Album Features with Australian stations Double J, 3RRR, PBS and 2SER. Breakout singles from the pack were originally released by Melvo Baptiste’s The Remedy Project, an imprint of Defected Records.

Their collab 'Rollout' with Young Franco, Scrufizzer and Jay Prince, won over fans across the globe and was added to the Official Soundtrack for acclaimed video game FIFA 23, and have been synced for Apple’s recent iPhone campaign. In the past year the band have also performed for triple j, 3RRR, Defected Radio, FBi Radio, Soho Radio NYC, Baked, and interviewed on BBC Radio 1Xtra on tour recently, and when hotly tipped as their ‘After Dark Discovery’ and ‘EP of the Week’ (‘FLUX’, 2022).

The duo expands up to a 7-piece tour-de-force with live-mapped visuals, dancers and featured musicians and vocalists from their wider collective and they’ve continuously sold out their hometown Naarm/Melbourne dates, notching impressive shows at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, sold out dates at 170 Russell, Corner Hotel, The Night Cat, and packed-out rooms across Australia’s east coast. Support duties have flowed from Madlib, Sofi Tukker, Crazy P Soundsystem, Tall Black Guy, to local mates Confidence Man and The Jungle Giants, betwixt bucket-list festivals Splendour in the Grass, Falls Festival, Let Them Eat Cake, Strawberry Fields, Meredith Music Festival, MONA FOMA, Party in the Paddock and showcasing at BIGSOUND, Electronic Music Conference and three sold-out Melbourne Music Week events.

The band recently finished their UK & EU summer ticking off Lost Village Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, Defected Malta and Cabaret Sauvage. In London, they sold Ronnie Scott's, did 180 tickets at Ninety One Living Room, packed out Hootananny Brixton and landed a sold out Jazz Café support for Somewhere Soul's showcase with Cotonete. The band have also played packed sets in Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Monaco, Brighton and featured behind the decks at ADE, Defected Croatia, Reflektor in Belgium with A-Trak, and are returning for Brick Lane Jazz Festival in April 2025.