Confidence Man

With irrepressible spirit and a devotion to celebration, Australian quartet Confidence Man specialize in campy, addictive dance anthems indebted to forebears like Deee-Lite and Tom Tom Club, as well as early-2000s alt-disco acts like Scissor Sisters, Fischerspooner, and CSS. Bursting onto the local scene in 2016, the band issued their breakthrough debut Confident Music for Confident People in 2018. Taking inspiration from ’90s dance music, they released sophomore set Tilt in 2022.
Hailing from Melbourne, the Brisbane-based group was formed by members of indie/psych-rock bands the Belligerents, Moses Gunn Collective, and Jungle Giants. Siblings Janet Planet and Sugar Bones handle the vocals, while Reggie Goodchild (synths) and Clarence McGuffie (percussion) remain in the shadows, under veils that protect their identities. With a wink and a strut, Confidence Man made their debut in 2016 with the single “Boyfriend (Repeat),” which they modeled after Brigitte Bardot’s “Contact.” After signing with Heavenly Recordings in 2017, they issued additional singles “Bubblegum” and “Better Sit Down Boy,” which all appeared on their 2018 debut full-length, Confident Music for Confident People (Heavenly/PIAS). Influenced by Talking Heads, Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada, and LCD Soundsystem, the set also included “Don’t You Know I’m in a Band.” They followed with the holiday single “Santa’s Comin’ Down the Chimney” before closing out the decade with “Does It Make You Feel Good?”
Kicking off the 2020s, Confidence Man issued the stand-alone single “First Class Bitch,” which was expanded with a remix EP that included a take by veteran producers Groove Armada. Their sophomore album era started in 2021 with the release of the atmospheric anthem “Holiday,” which was followed by the house-indebted “Feels Like a Different Thing” and “Woman.” All three tracks landed on 2022′s Tilt, a euphoric collection of dancefloor fillers. ~ Neil Z. Yeung