Melbourne electro-soul duo Close Counters have returned with a double A-side release described as “a two-track care package of soulful dance songs for these tumultuous times”.
The release – comprising the tracks ‘In Need Of Love’ and ‘Wherever You Go’ – was built around samples of vocals performed by Stevie Wonder and Lalah Hathaway. It comes as a follow-up to Close Counters’ ‘Flux’ EP, which landed back in March and featured the singles ‘Up And Out’, ‘Speak In Truth’ and ‘Something In My Drink’.
The tracks were released exclusively through Bandcamp today (September 17), with Close Counters donating all proceeds to Support Act. Have a listen to both of them below:
“These two songs are explorations of the human voice as an instrument, using the recordings by Stevie and Lalah as the main focal point of these productions,” member Allan McConnell said in a press release.
“We have such deep respect for these artists and the healing their music brings, we wanted to give these recordings new life by shifting them into a danceable realm whilst still doing justice to the music in the process. We want to honour the legacy and impact that black music, and particularly gospel and soul has on dance music over the world.”
Echoing McConnell’s sentiment, bandmate Finn Rees said: “Continuing the art of sampling, these two songs started out as edits but took on a new energy as we added layers of synths, samples and percussion. We hope that the music hits the right places and brings some positivity no matter what your circumstances are!”
“[100 per cent] of the proceeds from this release will go towards Support Act, who have generously helped us and many other performing arts workers throughout the pandemic with crisis relief and mental health and well-being services.”
Close Counters recently announced a new set of dates for a national tour in support of ‘Flux’, which was initially slated to kick off back in April. The four-date run will now begin in November, taking the duo to stages in Melbourne, Wollongong, Sydney and Werribee. Full details and tickets for all shows are available from the duo’s website.
They’re also set to open for Confidence Man on their forthcoming Melbourne headliner, taking place at The Forum on Monday November 1.