If one thing is for certain, 2020 has been the year of duos, from chart-topping City Girls to Justin Bieber’s and Shawn Mendes’ tear-jerking hit – we’ve been blessed all year round. But before we say goodbye to the year, English and Australian force Two Another drop their highly anticipated new project Two Sides. Diving into themes of self-acceptance, substance abuse and sexuality, the two weave in their experiences into idiosyncratic productions and emotive lyricism. Effortlessly fusing soul with contemporary electronica, the two create various soundscapes filled with Motown-inspired rhythms and subtle dance floor melodies.

Opening up on the EP, the duo said, “In terms of the overall sound of the EP we were really inspired by trip-hop artists like Massive Attack and Portishead who we listened to a lot growing up. We wanted to use more sampling, live instrumentation and really take our time recording the vocals – we honestly think it was the first time we didn’t record most of the vocals in a bedroom.”

We caught up with Two Another during lockdown, talking the creative process, being open about their personal issues and why they decided to remain anonymous over the years.

Check out the interview below…

Hi Eliot and Angus – how have you been during this uncertain time? How has it impacted your music and creativity?
We have been alright, similar to a lot of people we think – up and down! Angus moved to Stockholm in March which was a pretty strange time to move cities. Like most artists and musicians we had to cancel all our shows. We have worked remotely a lot in the past so weirdly we were prepared creatively, but we have definitely missed having more opportunities to be in the studio together. Everything seems to be taking twice as long this year.

How have England and Australia influenced you sonically? Who are your musical heroes?
It’s an interesting question because we never felt Australia influenced us that much sonically until we moved to the UK and people said they could hear the Australian influence. Australia is where we grew up and had key friends and mentors who influenced our music. People like The Bag Raiders who taught us music production at school and The Goods who introduced us to artists like D’Angelo and play on a lot of our records were a big influence. Moving to London just opened our eyes further. It’s such a melting pot of different cultures and musically it offers everything. We think it’s probably the best city in the world for music. We started collaborating a lot more in London which really helped us expand our sound. The energy of the city and the fact that everyone is working super hard around you definitely pushes you more than when we were in Sydney.

How did you both meet and come together as Two Another? Also what does the name mean?
We have been family friends for a long time and went to the same high school. We started working on music together with another friend and would just smoke and make music. After Eliot left school we lived in different cities for a few years. That meant we kind of had this long-distance relationship – we wouldn’t see each other for extended periods of time and then would meet up somewhere and make music for a week and then not see each other for 6 months. Choosing a name is pretty hard, everything sounds pretty shit until you just decide to use it. It came from “two and others” because it was the two of us and we always collaborated with other musicians, producers and songwriters and we wanted to celebrate that.

You’ve had so much success and mainly decided to remain anonymous, why is that?
We’d love to tell you that it was all part of our artistic vision but it wasn’t a conscious decision. We just didn’t really have our shit together when we first launched the project so we’ve been playing catch up on some of the other elements that go into being an artist. I guess you could say we’re not naturally inclined to share a lot about ourselves on social media but we have started to more this year and will be in the future.

You’ve spoken really openly about how your music has helped you deal with personal issues – how does it feel to put such vulnerable and raw music in the world?
At first, the idea of releasing songs like ‘Another Night’ and ‘Be Alone’ which are about anxiety and substance abuse felt a little scary but with all that has happened in the world this year it feels like a relief to have them out and almost serves as a reminder to us that we all need to continue to work through things and stay on top of our mental health. We have always tried to write personal songs but sometimes the lyrics have been a bit more metaphorical and vague whereas we wanted these songs to be rawer. The more music we have released, the more we have realised that once you release songs, people find certain parts that relate to them in different ways and they take on a new meaning for everyone – having this mindset has definitely freed us up to be more vulnerable and honest.

Congratulations on your new project Two Sides – what was it inspired by? What ties it together as a body of work?
Thank you! Two Sides has had a slow build. We would be messing around in the studio all day, trying to write more uptempo music and then in the last hour of the session we would try something more stripped back just on piano or guitar. After a while, we realised we had a whole folder of songs that we felt could sit together as an extended body of work. When we met producer Utters we instantly knew he was the person to bring it all together. He has an unbelievable sample library that he has catalogued for years – we’ve never seen anything like it before. He really helped to push us out of our comfort zone and experiment a lot more. In terms of the overall sound of the EP we were really inspired by trip-hop artists like Massive Attack and Portishead who we listened to a lot growing up. We wanted to use more sampling, live instrumentation and really take our time recording the vocals – we honestly think it was the first time we didn’t record most of the vocals in a bedroom!

Is there one lyric or song in particular that you hope resonates with listeners? What do you want fans to take from your music?
The track that we think best captures the overall sentiment of the EP is ‘Be Alone.’ It was written pre-pandemic but its meaning couldn’t be more relevant to what a lot of people have experienced this year. It’s a song about the consequences of loneliness and isolation and how that can affect our mental health in such a huge way. We always hope people can relate to the songs and find some element of hope and comfort in the fact that so many of us have shared experiences. Hopefully, people take away a positive and inclusive message. For us, that is what music is about – bringing people together.

What’s next for you? What are you looking forward to in 2021?
We are currently finishing up work on our debut album which we will begin to release in 2021. It’s another change in direction for us musically, more electronic, more collaboration and more experimenting with different styles and tempos. We are really excited about it as we think it probably best encapsulates us musically and as a creative partnership. We really hope to be able to play some shows next year as we have reworked our live show and it’s getting a little boring just performing it for each other!