Sister duo Kinder have been festival mainstays for years but they’re entering a bold new phase of their career. Anybody who has frequented Australian festivals would have come across Briony and Savannah Osei spreading their infectious energy on the decks. While the stage has been stripped from them this year though, they’re getting the good vibes flowing once again with Come Along.
It’s their first single of the year but the A.Girl-featuring song comes out of the gates with a bang. It’s a vibrant, heartwarming cut that’s the closest we’re going to get to the communal atmosphere of a festival this year.
The inspiration for Come Along was kickstarted by the energy that a festival brings, as they tell Cool Accidents over Zoom. “We were in the middle of doing lots of festival sets last year and we were really inspired,” says Briony, laughing at the idea of it being released in a year without festivals.
“There’s a lot of chanty elements in our new stuff and that was inspired by being amongst crowds and in that atmosphere.”
The new material pulls together a melting pot of inspiration. Festivals, Brazilian bass, house-pop, and their Ghanaian heritage are the ones that immediately come to the forefront. Come Together interpolates traditional Ghanaian instrument the Gyill and conjures images of a trip they took to Ghana as children.
Briony and Savannah grew up in Maitland but their father Kofi was raised in Ghana. He travelled to Australia in the early part of his life, taking on a challenging journey that saw him travel from Libya to Europe and eventually onto Australia in the most grueling of circumstances. Their music embraces the feelings of belonging and community in the Ghanaian culture that their father passed onto them.
It hasn’t always been like that though. Growing up in Maitland, they often felt like they were the odd ones out, pushing away the culture, even though they were fascinated by it. “We were bullied and I guess we didn't want to show that side of us,” explains Savannah.
“We can talk about it now. We're obviously very proud of who we are and as adults, it's something that we've come into and we want to celebrate and explore this side of our identity but of course, then we would shy away from it,” continues Briony.
That embracing of culture has led to their boldest and proudest work to date. “This is unique and we should own this and not hide from it,” Savannah says, and it comes through in their latest material, fusing everything that inspires them as a duo.
Like many, this year was meant to go differently for the sisters. Notably, they were due to participate in a writing camp in Nigeria in the early part of the year which came to a halt when the pandemic hit. Instead, they have been piecing together their inspiration online.
We've been exploring a lot of sounds, looking at African rhythmic instruments and all of that. Really researching and educating ourselves more,” says Savannah.
Briony adds that their influences have been far-reaching. We're really influenced not only by the Ghanaian kind of vocal side of things but also Brazilian electronic music,” she says.
“We're just really influenced by the music coming out of South America as well.”
The tie between all their influences is community. It’s all celebratory music and experiences that bring people together in joy and happiness. The same feeling they have created with their festival shows is now replicated in their music and that’s exactly what they set out to do.
Briony concludes that Kinder is all about, “staying true to who you are, being proud of who you are, having a good time and not taking yourself too seriously.”
