It’s pretty clear you we can’t get enough of funk/ pop duo Au Dré – and if you’ve spend any time with their new debut 6 track EP Wanna Know you’ll be able to see why they’re rapidly gaining traction as one of the most exciting live acts rolling around Melbourne.
Wanna Know sees the two piece explore their deep musical connection while bringing to the table their combined influences. Inspired by ’90s RnB, ’00s Neo-Soul all the way through to ’80s Boogie, Disco and even a good helping of Detroit House, it’s a melting pot of party vibes.
To celebrate its release and to get to know the duo a little better vocalist/ trumpeter Audrey Powne has kindly given us a track by track run down of the release. Check it out below and if you like what you’re hearing pop by the band’s Facebook page for more info.
Wanna Know
My romantic life seems doomed to fail. Either I want some sort of relationship and no one wants a bar of it or I just wanna have some fun and people want me to meet their enormous extended family on their mother’s birthday after 2 dates and tell me they love me.
I just don’t really wanna know that because I’m just looking for a party and that’s what this song is about. When James heard it his mind went instantly to straight up bumpin’ Post-Disco/Boogie. We went hard on the late 70-s early 80-s tip with disco strings, a percussion laden bridge all while trying to match the powerful lead vocal hook.
From Here
This is a real mixing pot of stuff. When I first wrote it I envisaged it as some sort of neo-soul baud- like ballad.
At the time James was listening to some really awesome modern stuff like FKA Twigs, Kelala etc. just really sad sounding female driven electronica and that really influenced the production on this track.
The challenging thing was allowing the delicateness of the vocals sit alongside some really tough drum sounds and pretty rude synth parts.
Other Woman
I always wanted to write a song for girls about girls relationships with other girls. The kind that would be played in a Anne Hathaway RomCom to a montage of her crying in different Parts rooms in her apartment a cafe and a park bench.
We’re absolute suckers for the ’80s and really went to town on this one with that Stevie Wonder-esque ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ kinda shuffle groove, and tried to get a really bright sizzly vocal sound. A bit of a modern twist in the bridge reigns it back in to the 2016 realm but for the most part, it’s unapologetically retro inspired.
Climax
This one is a bit of an interesting story. James actually came up with the beat to this track while remixing a super mainstream RnB song (you’ll never guess which one).
Audrey heard the instrumental and this gem of a verse just came out. James has always been really in to UK electronic music, especially classic dubstep producers like Benga, Coki, Magnetic Man etc. so this is a bit of a throwback to that whilst still having a big old Au Dre vibe to it.
The song is about being in a relationship with someone who can’t love you the way that you need and because of the subject matter and Audrey accidentally managed to write something very poignant which hauntingly contrasts the driving track.
Give and Take
There are hints at it throughout lots of the EP, but this track goes all out on that New Jack Swing vibe (think Guy, Teddy Riley, Janet Jackson “Rhythm Nation” etc).
Raw snare sounds, kick drums that remind you of the sound of a basketball bouncing on an indoor court, and heaps of crazy synth layers. One of the awesome things about us having worked in a bunch of different bands around the Melbourne scene for the last few years is we have heaps of awesome horn-playing mates.
We called in a few favours, beefing up Audrey’s trumpet with a full 5 piece section, and I think the result is pretty wild!
Fool Me
The tune that started it all. We’d actually been playing this tune together in various bands for a number of years when Audrey asked James to have a crack producing it for her in his own kinda way.
The result was something we both liked enough that we decided to keep doing it – thus was Au Dre born.
