We have enough evidence to say, with a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, that when seasoned jazz musicians find themselves in the company of synths, the product is almost unanimously positive. Enter Melbourne, Australia’s Au Dré. The brainchild of producer James Bowers and powerhouse vocalist Audrey Powne, the easy pop maximalism of their newest EP, More is More, is hard to ignore: It’s bright and shiny with a relentless spirit that magnifies the genre’s storied legacy over several decades (70s, 80s, 90s, 00s and beyond).
Carefully considered and overflowing with influences, the EP functions as a wildly dynamic, iron-clad disco time machine. You can hear glimmers of new jack swing and old school funk mixed in with ’90s-inspired electro-R&B. At the same time, the album teems with the same glittering Balearic-influences synths that defined the late ’00s. Joining in this beautiful synth resurgence, Au Dré is giving us what exactly what we want, wrapped in one impossibly catchy contemporary package.
You can find the album on Bandcamp here.