Confidence Man ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ review: the most fun you‘ll have all year
On their truly excellent third album, Janet Planet and Sugar Bones hurtle with abandon towards the dancefloor and onto festival main stages.
“It’s basically Muhammad Ali and your ears are everyone he ever boxed,” say Confidence Man. The Australian duo are talking specifically about their enormous new single ‘SO WHAT’, but it could be attributed to anything and everything about the ludicrously fun pair.
On their first two albums – 2018 debut Confident Music for Confident People and 2022’s TILT – Janet Planet and Sugar Bones toed the line of satire on electro pop hits full of sass, making them festival favourites and a word-of-mouth success. If the band’s beginnings painted them as a humorous curiosity, truly excellent new album 3AM (LA LA LA) sees them hurtle more intentionally towards the dancefloor and onto festival main stages.
In the time since their second album, the duo have ingratiated themselves into dance culture through collaborations with Daniel Avery, DJ Seinfeld and DJ BORING, and put together a thunderous mix for the Fabric Presents series. 2024 sees them as the pop band every DJ wants their name next to, and the gaps between their pop sensibilities and dancefloor leanings are filled brilliantly on album three.
3AM (LA LA LA) was written and recorded in the band’s new home of London, specifically at so-called ‘cooked sessions’ where the band would, essentially, get thoroughly wasted and head to their east London studio to lay down whatever felt good. While lots of pop music about partying and decadence feels cooked up in a lab – simply imagining the kind of messiness they are singing about – Confidence Man were living it, and it brings an unparalleled euphoria to 3AM.
Going against the grain of the recent trend of minimalism in pop music, 3AM sees Confidence Man reaching for the most outrageous lyrics, hardest thudding beats and sweetest melodies. ‘SO WHAT’ feels primed for a ‘90s Ibiza compilation with its trance-like synth line, while lead single ‘I CAN’T LOSE YOU’ is an irresistible earworm. On the latter track’s video, the duo visualise the uninhibited feeling the track inspires, flying over London naked in a helicopter. Elsewhere, ‘REAL MOVE TOUCH’ employs reggae singer Sweetie Irie as their hype man, while ‘SO TRU’ is vintage UKG and pays homage to the band’s new home.
Everything Confidence Man do is packed with personality. Janet Planet is a hedonistic party girl, with sleazy counterpart Sugar Bones at her side. “Last night I kissed a DJ / Don’t be jealous, he reminded me of you!” Janet chuckles on opening track ‘WHO KNOWS WHAT YOU’LL FIND?’ Sugar’s lyrics hit more directly: “Everybody wants to get fucked up,” he sings on ‘SICKO’, then referring gleefully to himself by the track’s title. ‘JANET’ then sees the pair self-mythologise and big each other up. Together, they are the perfect double act. Pop music packed with personality, unfiltered hedonism and expertly crafted songs, 3AM (LA LA LA) is the true arrival of a band everyone wants to party with.