‘International in flavour, cosmopolitan in style’. Melbourne synth-pop duo and self-described “purveyors of turn-of-the Nineties Business-class Australiana” Client Liaison positively drip with style.
The duo – unapologetically mulleted singer Monte Morgan and clean-cut keys wrangler Harvey Miller – have slowly built a cult following for their retro-tastic, 80s channelling music as well as an image based on tacky, vintage Australiana that’s so well-cultivated, it’d given PR men wet dreams.
Following on from releasing their brilliantly Aussie montage music video for lead single ‘End Of The Earth’, Client Liaison have released their latest audio/visual spectacular for new single, ‘Feeling’.
Shot in far higher definition than their previous effort, ‘Feeling’ features a series of down and out suburbanites struggling with ‘those feelings’, from a shady tycoon, to a ballerina, and housewife doing some homebound spin work, all intercut with footage of the band giving Oscar-worthy ironic performances.
Morgan gets to flash his best arena rock poses to match his George Michael-esque vocal turns, “I don’t fight the feeling/ ’cause feelings they just need to grow;” meanwhile his musical business partner, Miller, gives lashings of twinkling synth, strident keyboards, and chugging machine drums.
Client Liaison will play two headline shows this October to launch their their new single and video, playing Melbourne’s The Toff In Town and Sydney’s GoodGod Small Club. Support comes from “world-renowned relaxation music heavyweight” Ken Davis, according to the band, and “punters can expect an evening as parochial as Ken Done’s patterned fabric, Christopher Skase’s Port Douglas Mirage, Ansett Australia’s first-class lounge, Shane Warne’s strident morality and Steve Irwin’s heroism.”
That potent mix is exactly what Client Liaison brought to their winning turn at this year’s Golden Plains.
“Scoring a midnight slot between major drawcards to a crowd of thousands, most who had never heard of them let alone their lone single, it’d be fair to think Client Liaison had managed some kind of coup,” wrote our Tone Deaf reviewer of the slot. “Instead, the synthpop duo delivered a career-making set that was one of the festival’s highlights. Assuming you were in on the gimmick of course.”
“If the Pet Shop Boys had been borne of Sydney instead of Chelsea, and spent the 80s honing their arch, self-reflexive pop to skewer Australian iconography like Ansett Airways, Christopher Skase, and John Farnham, they almost definitely would have become Client Liaison. Their dated hooks, yuppie chic, and yacht rock threads extend to their genius stage set-up: a fax machine, water cooler, and Diner’s Club placard.”
Client Liaison have also indicated that ‘Feeling’ marks the first of three new singles due for release in the lead-up to the duo’s debut album, “each of which is rumoured to be paired as impeccably as Barossa Valley Shiraz & King Island Eye Fillet with a music video experience worthy of Peter Weir’s approval.” If they’re anything as good as what we’ve received so far from the pair, then we can’t wait.
Client Liaison Feeling Launch Shows
Saturday 19th October – The Toff In Town
support from Glass Mirrors
Tickets: http://tickets.thetoffintown.com/event/view/w0scjpmgk
Wednesday 23rd October – GoodGod Small Club
support from Pelvis DJs
Tickets: https://clientliaisonsydney.eventbrite.com/
