FEATURE:
Feels Like a Different Thing
Confidence Man’s TILT and the Need for a Dance Revival
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ALTHOUGH this is a not a review…
of Confidence Man’s new album, TILT, I did want to make it the focal point of this feature. I am going to get to a couple of reviews for TILT. The reason I want to focus on it is because of the nature of the album. Harking back to the big Dance albums of the 1990s, I have not heard too many modern albums like it. Sure, there are Pop albums that are quite energetic and have anthems, though I have bemoaned the lack of Dance music that nods back to the past. Not to say modern examples are weak, yet there isn’t the same sort of innovation and resonance. When it comes to TILT, the Brisbane group (with Janet Planet and Sugar Bones at the centre) are leading a new charge. They spoke with EUPHORIA. about the sound and nature of their second album:
“They say the second album can be a “difficult” one to make. Have you felt his statement to be true?
In the lead-up to the pandemic, we had been touring non stop for like five years. The first album had popped off and we were just kind of riding it. People started asking about the second album and we freaked out cause we were about to go on another big tour and there just wasn’t any time. Then COVID happened. It was a silver lining for us because we all moved in together and suddenly had endless days with literally nothing to do but write. We all went a little crazy at times but overall, we worked our asses off day in day out, found the sweet spot, and didn’t stop until we knew we had something really strong. It all came pretty naturally.
Who and what was the inspiration behind the record, sonically and lyrically?
We just wanted to keep making party tracks to get people moving and feeling good. We also wanted to maintain the message of empowerment while adding some depth and new dimension. Musically we wanted to make it bigger and more expansive. Grace Jones is a massive inspiration for us.
Was there a particular track that was most challenging to create that almost didn’t make the cut?
“Luvin U Is Easy” was a tough one to nail down. We had a breakthrough when we sped it up by 20 bpm, the only problem then was that Janet had to sing this nice cruisey chorus double time. It can really mess with your head when you’ve learnt a song one way then you’ve got to re-learn it all over again in a new format. One year later and we got the perfect take.
“Holiday” is such a big tune and moment on the album and a favorite of mine. What are your favorites and why?
I really love “Relieve the Pressure.” It’s the album closer and encapsulates the entire album. A solid pop body with an extended off-the-wall outro. “Holiday” is also a fave, it just came to us so complete, barely needed anything after conception, a rarity.
What are you hoping listeners will take away from the album once they’ve heard it?
We want them to dance out the door with a swagger in their step, a smile on their face, and love in their hearts.
What is Confidence Man’s main goal for 2022? Is there something you want to achieve before the year is over
Just destroy as many dance floors/minds as possible. Oh, and maybe kiss Bono”.
Confidence Man’s 2018 debut, Confident Music for Confident People, was masterful when it came to humour, colour and these amazing songs that over-spilled with life, wit and character. Maybe a different sort of album to their debut, in Janet Planet, there is this voice and Dance icon that reminds me of the women who sung some of the biggest anthems of the ‘90s. It makes me wonder whether we will get more albums that are like TILT in the coming year. This is what NME had to say in their review:
“Confidence Man’s first record, ‘Confident Music For Confident People’, was a masterclass in hyper-charged, over-the-top pop, fizzing with in-your-face grooves and hilarious lyrics about shit boyfriends, delivered with razor-sharp deadpan by the commanding Janet Planet and her himbo foil Sugar Bones. Live, it was more preposterous still: a chaotic, out of time kaleidoscope of goofy dance moves and LED lights. In other words: a complete blast.
On its follow-up, ‘TILT’, the Brisbane electro-poppers are still anything but subtle. The beats are still blaring, the grooves immediate and direct. Most of the songs are still about partying and fucking. Nevertheless, it’s a decidedly different experience to its predecessor. It’s less silly but more assured, happy to let pumping ’90s-indebted rave instrumentals take centre stage as often as Planet and Bones’ storytelling.
It’s still silly in places, mind. “Living life on the wild side just like a bear / We’re alive – we’re just animals with beautiful hair” Sugar Bones gurns like a third-rate playboy in an unplaceable accent on the deranged ‘What I Like’. Their appropriation of ’90s aesthetics is so full-hearted that they’re unafraid to occasionally drift into full-on Eurodance territory. Yet at other points the group reveal hitherto unheard aspects of their personality. ‘Luvin U Is Easy’ is a tender expression of blossoming love over a smooth Balearic instrumental. The gently psychedelic ‘Holiday’ is bewitching escapism, stripped of irony or overthought”.
I will round off with a few thoughts after another review. AllMusic were among those keen to share their thoughts about the mesmeric TILT:
“Four years after their painfully hip debut, Confident Music for Confident People, Australia's Confidence Man amassed even more of their titular surety, letting their guard down and fully embracing their dance roots on the celebratory Tilt. While the devastating cool of their first album made it feel like trying to get into a club with a high cover charge, Tilt throws the doors open and invites everyone to the party, going full-bore on a collection of '90s house-indebted thrills that uplift listeners to another plane of pure euphoria. Stylish and swaggering, sibling vocalists Janet Planet and Sugar Bones and producers Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie execute like seasoned veterans, recalling 2000s dance-revivalist favorites like Hercules & Love Affair, Scissor Sisters, CSS, and LCD Soundsystem. Naturally, they also dig deeper into their own influences, channeling pre-millennial forebears such as Madonna, Haddaway, CeCe Peniston, Deee-Lite, and Ace of Base. Exuberant cuts like "Feels Like a Different Thing" and "Relieve the Pressure" build to unbearable heights, inspiring rapturous release like a church service on the dance floor. The infectious disco of "What I Like" injects playful horns and cowbell into one of the better gang vocal performances on the set, just as expertly as "Holiday" hypnotizes with synth stabs and swirling atmospherics. Fans of Confidence Man's debut might even feel a surge of nostalgia on the throbbing, defiant "Angry Girl" and "Break It Bought It," a glittering glam throbber fit for runways and ballrooms. The cathartic release is absolutely joyous on this stylish party album, a heaping dose of maximalist escapism from a quartet that just wants you to dance your cares away”.
PHOTO CREDIT: @samar0103/Unsplash
The reception to the album gets me thinking widely about Dance and modern Pop. There are a lot of artists who nod to decades like the 1980s and 1990s, and the sound and result can be quite watered-down or muddled. There are others who do not like genre and, as such, they produce music that is lacking in identity and focus. One of the saddest things about music of the past couple of decade is how we do not hear strong music that could have been in the clubs of the 1990s. Often fronted by women, epic tracks that had incredible choruses and big beats have struck in our heads for decades! I can appreciate how it is hard for artists to show huge enthusiasm and energy at such a draining time. Confidence Man, being based in Australia, are in a glorious landscape and nation that I think it more inspiring then the U.K. or U.S. at the moment. I think they will help to kick a wave of albums that have this energy, campiness, lack of restraint, yet there is depth and layers that keep revealing themselves with every listen. After such a rough couple of years, festivals and gigs are starting to return. TILT is an album that demands a willing and lively audience. Whether you were alive in the 1990s or not, one cannot deny the beauty and power of those songs that made you feel free and unshackled. Everybody's Free (To Feel Good) by Rozalla and The Key, The Secret by Urban Cookie Collective are two classic examples.
Not to say anything from modern Pop is lacking, yet one does not hear fifth gear activated all that often. Maybe some feel that overtness and huge energy risks trampling on personal lyrics or a certain subtleness. There have been some dancefloor fillers released since the pandemic started yet, as Confidence Man have shown throughout TILT, turning the volume up and unleashing these big and neon declarations is so powerful and cathartic! I am not suggesting we all immerse ourselves in nostalgia and want things to be like they were in the past, though there is a dearth of music that grabs you and really gets you moving. As the summer approaches, let’s hope that things are in a better position regarding the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and other things that are depressing us at the moment. I have asked whether we will get a third Summer of Love. The Second Summer of Love happened in 1988-1989, and I think a third one would react to the British Government’s incompetence and a need to come together – though, with the pandemic rising again, maybe that will not be possible. Perfect mood-lifting music is what we need more of. With the likes of Confidence Man putting out albums like TILT, it is really helping. Let’s hope (from them and other artists) there is…
PHOTO CREDIT: @juantures12/Unsplash
MORE to come!