Danced till we dropped best night out out
by Jimbo on 05/12/2024O2 Institute Birmingham - BirminghamJanet planet a goddess of dance great place nice people fun night out
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Since they high-kicked into view with their 2018 breakthrough album, Confidence Man have won hearts and lost minds around the world with their arch pop-dance confections and cute choreo – but, like, in a hot way. On 3AM (LA LA LA), Janet Planet, her floppy-haired foil Sugar Bones and instrumentalists Clarence McGuffie and Reggie Goodchild are delving deeper into UK rave sounds of the 90s and 2000s, from trippy acid techno and trance to breakbeat and big beat. It’s darker, sexier and more surreal. They gave us the first taste of the album with ‘I CAN’T LOSE YOU’ back in June, a sugary shot of euphoria that saw the pop-dance delinquents setting out their stall from a great height: they want to whisk you away from the dull wasteland of modern mediocrity, pump up the volume and, with their typical unseriousness, crashland on the dancefloor…naked.
Following the huge acclaim of their last album, 2022’s TILT, Confidence Man’s next club-focused chapter began with the release of 2023’s ‘On & On (Again)’, co-produced with Daniel Avery. They’ve since released underground hits with DJ Seinfeld (‘Now U Do’) and DJ Boring (‘Forever 2 (Crush Mix)’, as well as a remix album (Confidence Man Club Classics Vol 1.). At first, the band “wanted to dehumanise pop music and make it over the top and ridiculous again,” says Planet. But now they’re bringing those pop sensibilities to classic UK rave. “We wanted to revisit those sounds and then add pop hooks and vocals to them,” she continues. “I feel like that hasn't really been done before, besides The Prodigy.”
Janet planet a goddess of dance great place nice people fun night out