SAME NAME CONFUSION RELEASES NEW ALBUM ‘SNC’ AND ANNOUNCES NZ/AU RELEASE SHOWS
Enigmatic band Same Name Confusion is making a return, and doing it their way. After a multi-year hiatus, the Auckland / Melbourne-based group is returning with their second full-length album, SNC. Born across distance and refined over time with intentional, "slow" songwriting, the record captures a groove-focused, Randy Newman inspired record with a knack for finding the playful, romantic (and occasionally absurd) beauty in everyday life.
“I’m just singing about my ordinary life, the most ordinary things. And I’m talking about these things in the way that comes natural to me. I’m usually poking fun at myself and the people around me… that’s how I am in real life too.” (Luke Courtney)
“For me this record is a groove record. It’s meant for dancing or at the very least tapping your toes with a grin.” (Andrej Radosavljevic)
SNC is a trans-Tasman collaboration, with formerly Christchurch, then Wellington co-writers Luke Courtney and Andrej Radosavljevic now split between Auckland and Melbourne, bouncing demos back and forth for months before finally bringing it all together with a full band. With songs written over a span of years, Luke and Andrej would go through a number of iterations before bringing it to the band where long-time collaborator Josh Dominikovich translated MIDI drum grooves into real life, and new recruits Arran Cargill-Brown, Logan McAllister, Ensai August and Dayle Jellyman helped create basslines and other parts that served the song. Finally, the band spent 3 days recording with James Goldsmith at The Surgery Studio in Wellington, where they tracked all the songs live, in the room, with as little overdubs as possible to make sure it felt as organic as they could.
“One of the things I hoped to capture on this record, other than great songs, was for the listener to feel like they were in the room with us and I think James did a great job of that.” (Andrej Radosavljevic)
Serving as the standout focus track for the album release, “What’s the Winter Like in Istanbul?” is a simmering, groove-laden highlight built on a thumping beat, slow-building live intensity, and spontaneous group improvisation.
The track began life as a laptop demo built around a syncopated off-beat bassline and high chorused guitars that channel early Talking Heads, which naturally morphed into a sinister, Rolling Stones-style dancefloor thump across jam sessions. Engineered by James Goldsmith, the track was recorded without a click track to preserve the band’s natural, unconstrained push-and-pull tempo, climaxing with an arpeggiated synth outro tweaked live on the fly.
“I knew we had something when I looked out into the control booth of the studio while playing and James was bouncing around.” - Andrej
Lyrically, the song traces back to an unlikely friendship Luke formed at the University of Auckland with a visiting Turkish PhD student who bonded with him over the works of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Driven by self-deprecating humour and an acute awareness of his own isolation at the bottom of the world, Luke uses the track to explore the miracle of cross-cultural connection—and the charming ignorance that often comes with it.
“It’s a miracle that we ever met each other in the first place, let alone hit it off (“How the hell do we get on okay?”). The way I get at this is, of course, by poking fun at myself - of my isolation and unworldliness down here at the bottom of the world. (“It’s a marvel how we’ve talked a lot / I took my people skills from the WeetBix box”).”
“This friendship was a crash course in a different culture for me. I was so nervous about religious ignorance that when I wrote the lyrics, I actually had to email her to ask if it was offensive to mention ‘hell’ in a song about our friendship—she was very kind about it!” - Luke
SNC is the second full-length album from Same Name Confusion, and is out now via Winegum Records. The album is available on vinyl via Winegum Records, Bandcamp and retail stores across New Zealand / Australia. SNC can also be streamed on all digital platforms now.
To celebrate the album, Same Name Confusion will be playing shows in November across Auckland, Wellington and Melbourne.