PREMIERE : Not Without Friends - Other Halves

Les Yeux Orange

Melbourne's William Kiss, Luke Alessiand Jordan Brando come together as not without friends, with their first EP outing as a trio landing on RÜFÜS DU SOL's Rose Avenue imprint. Longtime mates and making waves in their own lanes in the last few years, in William's words: "The energy always bounces around the room between us. We're not interested in trends, gimmicks or limitations. not without friends is the truest form of our combined creativity and us being ourselves. Expect surprises." That energy that William speaks of has been experienced and revelled in by fans who were lucky to be around for their three Barn Raves. Taking clubbers out to Melbourne's suburbs, the last instalment was a five-hour session back in March. This release comes good on the atmosphere they push through over the course of a few heady hours. The idea for not without friends initially came while the three of them were on Thailand's Phi Phi island. Chat soon turned to action, and by the end of the initial conversation by the pool, they were writing on a laptop and a UE Megaboom, all squeezed onto a double bed for hours. The project would be further developed with a stint in Barcelona last summer taking in the culture. "A lot of our trips abroad together have definitely come through in the music," Jordan Brando enthuses. "Upbeat, happy and not too serious, which for us is exactly what NWF is about. Whether it’s the sound of a crowded street in Barcelona, the calm wind in Thailand, or a washing machine in Ibiza (yep), we’ve tried to sample and incorporate pieces of our travels into all our records." William Kiss has had a stellar 2024, with EPs dropping through Rekids Special Projects and Peggy Gou's Gudu Records. Luke Alessi's reputation is built on a slew of cuts on prominent labels and this year there’s been a return to Life and Death and a collaboration with Chloé Caillet. Jordan Brando’s grabbed slots on Bristol outpost Shall Not Fade and its sister label Killer Cuts, as well as appearing on Life and Death in a collaboration with Alessi. As Luke Alessi states: "What you hear now isn’t necessarily what you are going to hear there after. The project is free, unrestricted & ever evolving. Keep an open mind when listening."