Summer might be on its way out in the States, but in Australia, the party is just getting started. And right on time, Yolanda Be Cool is kicking off springtime in the southern hemisphere with their bright new single "Hip Trumpets."
The dance-ready new cut arrived this month as the duo of Andy Stanley and Matt Handley have played a slew of shows, including a New York City show at the Brooklyn Mirage before heading back to Australia and New Zealand for a run of dates over the next few months.
This all comes as the pair is on the cusp of what could be considered a new chapter, having initially formed 15 years ago and now residing on opposite continents and hemispheres, as Stanley lives in Australia and Handley is in Malibu, California.
"We've been doing this since 2008, so that's longer than most marriages last," says Handley with a laugh, speaking to Variance before the single's release. "But we're always evolving. And I think if we weren't always feeling like it was the next chapter, it would start getting stale at some point. That's the cool thing for us, is we always think we can get better at what we're doing. And it's a process of trying to do something we've never done before."
The duo, whose 2010 hit "We No Speak Americano" propelled them to huge success, have most recently also played a hand in helping other artists succeed, shining a spotlight on fellow Aussie acts and DJs who they also signed to their own label, such as RÜFÜS DU SOL and Dom Dolla, both of whom are now global favorites.
According to Stanley, they see this phase of their career as a bit of a full-circle turn, something their manager previously encouraged them to embrace.
"We had a meeting with our manager, who's super hands-on in A&R, and he said, 'It's come full-circle,'" Stanley recalls. "He goes, 'The shit you were doing back in 2010 is super popular again,' with like the solid grooves and sampling weird trumpets and saxophones and whatever, reconceptualizing it, and now it's working in DC-10 [in Ibiza], the coolest underground club in the world."
He continues: "So the way we see it is, this is Yolanda 2.0. This is where we've landed and it feels right at the moment."
Despite having played across the globe in large venues and in front of huge festival crowds, Yolanda Be Cool says they continue to have a sweet appreciation for the club scene, noting there's still something special about the intimate shows that remind them of how they started.
"We grew up in small, sweaty underground clubs," says Stanley. "One of the first clubs we ever played at was this epic club in Sydney called Chinese Laundry. It had low ceilings, and the sound was amazing. There's just something about a warehouse vibe and seeing the connection between people, just dancing and letting go. And yet we still love watching thousands of people off around a big stage. 10,000 people just going off. I do like both."■
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Yolanda Be Cool has a show on Sept. 30 in San Francisco at Halcyon SF. Tickets and information can be found here.
