In case you somehow missed the meteoric rise of Brighton’s Royal Blood and Tunbridge Wells’ Slaves, musical duos have proven you can make it in the UK music world without having what we used to consider a necessary full band. Ahead of their scheduled appearance Austin, I’d like you to meet another talented pair, APRE. Legend has it that Charlie Brown (yes, really) and Jules Konieczny first met durng a chance meeting at Ealing Chess Club. You’ll have to wait until I meet them one day for us to find out who’s head is better in the game. Maybe they’ll teach me?

My first impression of their sound was how similar it is to another London duo we introduced you all to last year, Kawala. I’m not the only one to have noticed this sameness: late last year, the two acts were tapped for the Hopscotch tour powered by Utilita, an extension of Radio 1’s Jack Saunders’ club night. A feather in APRE’s cap that I don’t think Kawala have managed is to have a #1 single on Hype Machine. This fateful event occurred in spring 2018, and the song that got them there was ‘All Yours’, which also appeared on their later EP ‘The Movement of Time’. A jaunty guitar line plays over a smooth backdrop of keyboards on ‘All Yours’, and the syncopated vocals live in that sweet spot between pop and hip-hop. The vocals are echoey, too, and along with its accompanying video that must have been shot from high up by a drone. The overall effect brings you to the lazy days of summer. And who doesn’t love that in the middle of winter as I write this?

A more pronounced r&b edge has been introduced in their latest single, ‘Backstreet’. With an insistent tropical beat making the song super catchy, this sure ain’t your momma’s Backstreet Boys. This is also where APRE diverge from Kawala. The falsetto vocals and r&b groove are reminiscent of that of Jungle’s, but how the keyboards are employed here will remind you of the feel good moments of Hurts. Ultimately, APRE are the kind of act you’d expect to find in 2019, having taken the best bits from those who came before and having seen what works in today’s pop and what doesn’t. While their red jackets and sunglasses may get them confused for Nancy Pelosi in Austin, I reckon as soon as their music begins, any potential mix-up should soon fade away.

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