Klo, a fresh electronic duo out of Melbourne, are kinda a big deal. They’ve had a litany of press, been shot by the right photographers and contacted by major labels the world over. Their debut single, ‘Make Me Wonder’, set the ball rolling, even drawing them attention from BBC Radio One’s Zane Lowe.
This is no small feat for cousins Simon Lam and Chloe Kaul, who recently released their EP, Cusp—and it’s largely thanks to the mothers who brought them together in the first place. For this electronic duo, playdates have given way to rehearsals in Simon’s home studio, which we were lucky enough to be invited to.
Located in Melbourne’s sandbelt, Simon’s shack, tucked behind his parents’ house, is something of an enigma in a region renowned for Alex Perry-laden housewives, Liz Hurley cameos and lads.
Kaul’s voice is also an enigma of sorts, sharing a lineage with the likes of Yukimi Nagano (Little Dragon) and Martha Brown (Banoffee)—artists who have demonstrably shifted R&B vocals into new contexts.
One of the most striking things about Klo is Kaul’s vibrato. It really does hit you like a train. Klo’s minimalist electronic palate aids this to a degree, but even on less vocally oriented tracks like ‘False Calls’ Kaul deploys an understated range with precision.
Their influences are more or less a melange, spanning Fantasia and James Blake to early cuts by the Streets.
Lam’s studies in audio engineering are readily apparent in the EP’s production. The intricacy of Kaul’s layered vocal parts is in no small part thanks to Lam’s experimentation, which you may have previously heard in his work with I’lls.
Next time you chuck on the velveteen textures of ‘Make Me Wonder’, please pay your respects to Mama Lam and Mama Kaul.
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February 10, 2015 8:33 pm
Saw their first show at Bony and they were very good, even though you could hear the all the bass parts of the fucker playing downstairs. They seemed to have found a sound and a look for the times and the place…