Cosmo’s Midnight are here with their first full-length, but this is by no means their introduction to the world.

Over the past few years, twin brothers Cosmo and Patrick Liney have won audiences over with their charming, lively take on electronica, earning an absolute flogging on radio airwaves and becoming Australian festival favourites. While they’ve been busy spreading that message globally, Cosmo’s Midnight have now dropped their debut album What Comes Next, an effort that flexes their skills from pop production to hip-hop collaborations with the likes of Buddy, Boogie and even a N.E.R.D sample approved by Pharrell Williams himself. Huge!

With What Comes Next still fresh in our earholes, we got Cosmo’s Midnight to take us through a track-by-track exploration of the album, telling the stories behind each track’s creation. Next month, the two will begin an extensive Australian tour and you can grab your tickets right here to witness What Comes Next in all of its live glory. Read on and listen below, it’s a vibe:

1. Confidence ft. Woodes

For me, the intro track is always about setting the pace and the mood of the album. So with ‘Confidence’ we wanted to start with a slow jazzy burner that transforms into more of a groove as it builds. We got a really unique delivery from Woodes on this song, we put her on the spot to record to the demo the first time she heard it, so it’s fitting that the song is about having confidence in the face of the unknown. We hope you all enjoy this moody, housey bop from us.

2. Lowkey ft. Buddy & Jay Prince

One of the singles off our album, ‘Lowkey’ came together in a weird but great way. Pat came up with these really crunchy drums while we were staying LA and we wrote a simple chord progression over the top, just to fill it out a bit and create a vibe. At that point we knew we needed to send it off to some rappers as they love to work on the more stripped back joints. After recently seeing Jay Prince perform ‘Father Father’ on Colors, we thought of reaching out to him. We’d also just heard of Buddy from an EP he’d recently dropped, so we also got in contact with him. Luckily, they were both down to feature and offered really complimentary verses. This track is about the worldwide collab, UK, USA and AUS! ‘Lowkey’, but not lowkey.

3. Montego

Montego Bay is a lush part of Jamaica my mother is from, she said the song reminded her of it, so we decided to name it after that. The song initially began as a sample of ‘Spaz’ from N.E.R.D’s album Seeing Sounds but we definitely hi-jacked it and made it our own. We really wanted to do some instrumentals on this album that flex a different side of our musicality, this song was super fun to make.

4. With U ft. Panama

This track is Mum’s favourite off the album, which is always a good sign. ‘With U’ is perhaps the oldest song off the album, having been dug up from an old computer and energised into the track it is now. We wanted to show different shades of Cosmo’s Midnight with this album, and ‘With U’ is what I’d hope people see as both a deeper cut and simultaneously super gratifying. ‘With U’ is both melancholy and joyful, and we really wanted to show that contrast in the verse and chorus. Panama absolutely lent the perfect vocal performance for this, I can’t imagine this song without him.

5. Talk To Me ft. Tove Styrke

We recorded this with Sarah Aarons in about 3 hours before she jetted off to Melbourne to visit her fam. With Sarah, we love contrasting ideas of breakups, flings, heartbreak, and moving on with a real upbeat jam (see history). Having recently discovered Tove from her song ‘Say My Name’, we thought she’d bring something a little extra to the table so we semi-nervously reached out. She got on the track and turned it into something else entirely. This track was so fun to put together and we’re so excited to have it out.

6. Get To Know ft. Winston Surfshirt

We were put on to Winston by our friend Moktar from Polographia (and now Poloshirt). Winston’s also signed to Astral People with us, so it felt like a match made in heaven. I laid down this bassline real quick and Pat smacked a beat together around it. Winston hopped on and played some keys and we even ended up getting the Bone in for some horns action too. I feel this track is the perfect blend of Winston and Cosmo’s, no compromises! This bop is so fun to play out.

7.Where U Been ft. Boogie

I wrote this one after a long flight from Jakarta to Detroit via Seoul. I was super tired but I couldn’t sleep, so made a semi-spooky intro that went into this pretty large, bounce-y verse. We finished it off in LA, so it feels super fitting that we managed to get Compton’s Boogie on this. This is the kinda track to play really loud in your car and annoy everyone on the street, hehe.

8. What Comes Next

We wrote this off the back of ‘Polarised’ with one of the synths that we had already used. It sounded so dreamlike, I feel like it deserved it’s own little special moment. This song is like a little meditative breath to take you from one half of the album into the next.

9. Polarised

This is the first track Pat has sung on ever. Who knew he could sing? This song is about being emotionally polarised, at an impasse, a crossroads – paralysed with indecision. It sort of works with the vocal repetition, I think. ‘Polarised’ is also one of those tracks that works well when your driving or daydreaming. It’s a bit of mood piece, a song you can tune in or tune out to, but also works as a boppy jam when we play it out live.

10. History

This was the first song we wrote with Sarah Aarons and how we met her in the first place. Coincidentally, we had a big one the night before and weren’t super in the mood for writing, so we just chatted and drank revitalising juices for a few hours. After we were somewhat refreshed we banged out ‘History’, she did it all in one take being the super nerdy, incredible singer she is, and that was that. The rest is history

11. Dreamer ft. Pauli The PSM

This is the cadillac jam, the one you play when your driving slowly through a neighbourhood and not really doing anything. Just driving so you can listen to this kind of music. Pauli delivered the slickest, smokiest vocal on this, I really hope we can perform this with him one day.

12. Lovelight

The album signoff track, this is a celebration of the album. This track came about super naturally as well. Pat banged out the piano riff, then I played the bassline and we were already halfway there. I feel like this track strikes a Latin vibe and works as a bit of a fullstop for the album. It’s also the second instrumental track on the album, although Pat did sing a little bit on this one too.