Twins Cosmo and Patrick Liney have been kicking around the Australian dance circuit since 2013, when their debut single Phantasm hit high rotation on radio stations nationally.
In that time, they’ve gradually cultivated a following in their slinky, dreamy electronic music. Predating the movements of Wave Racer and Kučka – who they would eventually work with on 2015’s sublime Memories EP – Cosmo’s Midnight have found a niche somewhere between R’n’B, pop and electronica that has them hitting the nerve of international audiences at exactly the right time.
“It was crazy,” Cosmo said of the twins’ recent US tour, which has just dovetailed into their current Australian jaunt.
“We had some pretty huge shows, ticketed shows, that we were nervous about, but we ended up selling a lot of them out.
“We played all these venues that had been, like, the famous venues that a lot of our inspirations played. We sold out a ticketed show at Rough Trade, which we were shocked about at first.
“And then we had a lot of club shows, where we could really just let loose. It was a really great vibe, you get a lot of freedom to mess around with things at those kind of shows.”
Finding room to experiment has become a strong driver for the brothers. Famously identical, yet not – Cosmo has been documented saying they spend a fair bit of time apart, only really coming together to fuse separate work.
But a strong musical knowledge and a nevertheless close working relationship has led them to transcend recording pressures, which arguably has resulted in a pretty much faultless back catalogue.
Their work with other producers, such as the aforementioned Kučka and Wave Racer, has grown their fanbase exponentially – they are very well-tapped into the current dance trends, both here and overseas.
“We basically just end up working with whoever's close, or available, or who we already know,” Cosmo said.
“And if we don't know them, we usually develop a pretty close friendship by the end of it. That's really important to us, because we don't want to be putting any limits on what either we or someone like Wave Racer is going to do with their music.
“It’s really about pushing each other, and taking what's great about both of our styles and playing the off against one another. That’s what leads to the best result, I think. And we’re perfectionists, so that’s pretty important.”
Cosmo’s Midnight headline Hooch at the Brighton Hotel on March 31.
Tickets available through ticketbooth.com.au.
