The world wasn't sure how to respond to Confidence Man when they formed almost a decade ago. Their whacky, left-of-centre approach to live performance triggered a conversation – one which is still swirling around even as they score gigs like Glastonbury, Osheaga and Mighty Hoopla, proving one thing: these cats know how to make an impact.
As the four-piece gear up for the release of their third album '3AM (LA LA LA)', there's a lot to consider. How will the Confidence Man beast present itself in a live setting, in the album's brand-new world? What will fans think of the fresh material? Which dance move or flip is going to become iconic in the new live set?!
“All this sh.t comes from [frontwoman] Janet [Planet],” frontman Sugar Bones says, with frankness. “All the craziness is all spawned from and traced back to Janet's twisted mind.”
Sugar and Janet are the two members of Confidence Man most would be familiar with – leading on vocals and, just generally, in the band's presentation. Donning mysterious veiled hats behind them are Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie. . . All four members are integral to the ConMan recipe.
“We were living in a sharehouse in Brisbane, and becoming better friends, closer. . . And writing more and more together. It was a big sharehouse with a bunch of musicians, and on Sundays we'd get a bit drunk and start writing dance music and messing around with it,” Sugar reflects. “One by one people would leave, but it would always just end up with us at the end. That was the start of it.”
So it would seem fate brought this foursome together – something the world has shown it's grateful for. . . Skeptics and non-believers aside, Confidence Man have skyrocketed to wild heights, invited to play iconic festivals around the world, selling out headline shows, and recently moving to London.
The new album, '3AM (LA LA LA)' is a product of the move, as well as a love of the rave culture of the 1990s and 2000s: think The Prodigy, Underworld, Groove Armada – glints of all of these acts and more can be heard throughout the record, but it's a distinctly Confidence Man project, with its soaring pop hooks and vocals.
The sparkling, addictive 'I CAN'T LOSE YOU' was the public's first tease of '3AM', accompanied by a classically unapologetic music video seeing Janet and Sugar flying high above the London city skyline in a helicopter. . . Naked.
The rest of the album feels like the group's most mature, considered and interesting work to date. . . But don't let 'mature' throw you off: the Confidence Man whimsy and absurdity is here in spades. It's a fusion of sexy, underground slow-movers, chaotic, loud party-starters, and the fun, unadulterated pop dance the group are known and so loved for.
'JANET' is a dizzying call and response between our two main characters with a thumping instrumental break. . . 'SICKO' feels like walking slow-motion through a dank, underground club thanks to Sugar's hypnotic vocal. . . 'SO TRU' is a cutesy, strawberry-flavoured helping of romance. . . And title track '3AM (LA LA LA)' is the other-worldly, reverb-laden album closer a la Orbital's 'Halycon + On + On', which, while wrapping things up, feels like the start of a brand-new chapter for the four-piece.
“We were pulling from that euphoric rave era. . . Early 2000s, '90s, UK rave world which we've always been obsessed with,” Sugar says. “Then we've also been obsessed with pop stuff – Madonna, all those cliché classic pop acts. So naturally, we started smashing them together. You don't really listen to much music when you're recording, at all, because your ears are just constantly getting bombarded. . . So you have some time off from it, you don't really crank up the tunes, but it's weird – when you go into the world of this album, you're lost in it.”
Image © Julian Buchan
The '3AM' world is represented on the cover art. It's an amalgamation of bizarre ideas; hints of 'Ghostbusters', 'Batman' and 'The Matrix' all run rampant, creating a dark, '90s city just begging to be explored.
Sugar talks about the inspiration for the world of the album.
“We had this long list of potential album titles, and this great artist we work with, Braulio Amado – a Portuguese guy – he read the list and said 'why don't we just put all of these into a world', and so it turned into this huge thing where there's like ten ideas in one – pulled all together.”
“We luckily got to work with an amazing photographer and a team who built all the miniatures for the cities, and it made sense because it was so much about moving to London and living in a bigger city, and this after-hours, f...ed up world that we made and put on the album cover.”
In the near distant future, the neon greens and city lights of '3AM (LA LA LA)' will hit stages across Australia when Janet, Sugar, Reggie and Clarence begin their tour. As for what to expect, well. . . Anyone who has attended a Confidence Man show will know it's a transcendent, mind-blowing exercise in live entertainment: with this outing sure to reach all the highs of previous shows and then some.
“The formula has stayed the same but our music has naturally become faster, more high energy, and the dancing kind of follows that. It's definitely amped up over the years.”
Janet and Sugar's wild dance moves have spellbound audiences since the commanding “GET DOWN” of 'Boyfriend (Repeat)' in 2018. Sugar isn't afraid to admit the idea daunted him in the beginning.
“We were talking about how we're going to do [our live show], and Janet was just like 'synchronised dancing'. I was like 'what, no!'. . . But next minute, I'm up there.”
“After a while of trying to get into it, it just clicked. I was like, I should just really go as hard as I can and see what happens.”
A fitting approach you might say – firmly in line with Confidence Man's ethos as a group.
At the end of our chat, Sugar sells '3AM (LA LA LA)' like an illicit substance.
“The last couple of albums were Confidence Man turned up to a six, and this is Confidence Man turned up to one million. It's a more high-octane experience. . . And if you want the full thing, you really should try it out.”
'3AM (LA LA LA)' is out now.
Confidence Man 2024 Tour Dates
Thu 24 Oct - Freo.Social (Fremantle)Fri 25 Oct - The Gov (Adelaide)
Sat 26 Oct - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Fri 1 Nov - The Tivoli (Brisbane)
Sat 2 Nov - Torquay Hotel (Torquay)
Mon 4 Nov - Forum Melbourne
