When It Came To Making 'Backwater' Kllo Just Jumped In The Deep End

Melbourne avant-pop duo Kllo - formed by cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam - have done everything out of sync. They've even toured internationally before dropping a debut album. But, with anticipation high for Backwater, it's paying off.

Kllo have been solidly rehearsing an expansive new live show. Yet, right now, Kaul is tucking into some late-morning brekky cereal - a "healthy" one. "It's apparently gluten-free and fruit-free, et cetera, et cetera," Kllo's frontwoman says cheerily.

Kaul and Lam were pursuing music independently when, encouraged by Lam's mum, they united. Lam, a sound engineering student (and onetime jazz drummer), was producing experimental beats, while Kaul developed as a singer-songwriter. Kllo would "merge" UK garage, '90s R&B and wonky pop on 2014's Cusp EP (issued via Dot Dash Recordings). The single Make Me Wonder was picked up by the UK's Radio 1 and Kllo became a streaming sensation. Soon, this Antipodean AlunaGeorge was gigging globally (they joined 2016's Splendour In The Grass).

Ahead of 2016's follow-up EP Well Worn, Kllo secured deals with cred labels like the [PIAS]-affiliated Different Recordings, Ghostly International and Australia's Good Manners. That Ghostly reached out is most astonishing - Sam Valenti IV's fabled imprint long associated with Detroit techno, despite latterly sponsoring the Grammy-nominated Tycho. "I'm not sure exactly how it started," Kaul says. "We were playing a show at Primavera [Sound] in Spain and I remember my manager was just emailing them at the time." 

Kllo prepped the crystalline Backwater, led by the single Virtue, on the road. "We wrote most of it in hotels, on hotel floors, bedrooms - the whole lot." In fact, the album parallels their adapting to international #tourlyfe - hence the FOMO-inspired title, Backwater. "It's always exciting, just a little bit daunting leaving your life at home and putting it on hold and going overseas and living a whole other life," Kaul says. 

The Kllo members share common influences - Kaul namechecking the likes of LuckyMe's Jacques Greene, Caribou and Little Dragon. The epic Last Yearn betrays their love of James Blake. Pointedly, the pair also write in tandem - Kllo a joint learning experience. "The very first music [we] ever put out was the very first music we ever made together. So we haven't really had much time to do trial and error - [we're] sort of just working along and finding our sound along the way. I think now, eventually, we've started to understand what works best for us and matured our sound over time, and become more comfortable with those certain elements." Live, both play synths and operate MIDI controllers, with Kaul looping her vocals. "We do as much as we can on stage with just the two of us."

Ironically, back in their Melbourne hometown, Kllo has just been nominated for Best Electronic Act at The Age Music Victoria Awards. "It's just such a hard place to crack!" Kaul quips. Kllo will hit Europe prior to December's Australian dates. This time they've allowed themselves an indulgence - a tour manager. Kaul laughs, "Trying to get train tickets in different languages with no idea at five in the morning is just too hard."