AR/CO, formed by the British-Australian duo Mali-Koa and Leo Stannard, have made significant strides since their inception during the pandemic. In under two years since their first track’s release, AR/CO has garnered a dedicated fanbase, providing immersive experiences for live audiences at various prestigious events; these include a UK/European tour with 5SOS, a major London performance alongside Kygo, and a collaboration with subfocus at Radio 1’s Big Weekend. Poised to continue their ascent, the dynamic duo unveils their latest anthem, “Cherry Lips”, in 2024.
The song begins with a stripped-down instrumental and echoing vocals, transporting listeners to summer nights reminiscent of MGMT’s classic, nostalgic sounds. “Cherry Lips” seamlessly blends a catchy chorus, euphoric melodies, and a lively set of instrumentals, making it a quintessential sun-kissed hit.
Listen to the track…
Read the interview…
Hey AR/CO! How have you been?
Hey Wonderland! We’re amazing thank you. You’re actually catching us off the back of a whirlwind couple weeks, just finishing our first headline run of shows round the UK. They’ve left us in amazing spirits!
You’ve come a very long way in your first 2 years since your debut track. What would you attribute your success to?
We’re trying to stick to what we know and love, writing with people we vibe with on a personal level. Having each other and a great bunch of people around us has helped us a lot.
Your debut single released during the pandemic. How do you feel your sound has developed since that debut track?
It’s been amazing to write our own stuff and stick to this anthemic, summery, nostalgic sound. We’ve always loved how the songs made us feel, and a lot of the music you’re hearing now are the songs we wrote a few years ago and have been getting ready ever since.
You’ve just dropped your latest single “Cherry Lips”, can you elaborate on your creative process behind the track?
“Cherry Lips” is a crazy one because we wrote it in the last half hour of a writing session we did. It was the third scratch idea of the day, and we were just being silly, sometimes things come when you’re going with the flow. The melody always seems to come first, and the words are just colourful projections that were pretty off the cuff.
AR/CO have worked on features and collabs with huge artists – including Don Diablo, The Stickmen Project, Sub Focus and Tiesto to name a few. How have these artists influenced your sound and how does it feel to work with these industry heavyweights?
We’ve had a chance to explore loads of different types of alternative dance genres – the
drum’n’bass track with Sub Focus, trance-ier stuff with Hayden James, and more emotional Tiesto tune. It’s been cool to hear how our sound fits into those worlds. Also, worth saying every DJ we’ve met along the way have been super down to earth and legends to work with!
You’ve done a major London show with Kygo and joined Sub Focus on-stage at Radio 1’s Big Weekend. How do you find live shows help with connecting to your fans?
Meeting everyone has been the best part for us, seeing how our songs make people feel in the flesh. Its surreal seeing people yelling lyrics back, hands in the air. That’s gotta be the single most rewarding feeling for us.
What are your favourite tracks to play live?
Mali: Hot Air Balloon, Night Feels, We Could Be Love
Leo: All Over The World, MOVE, Vibration
What can we expect in the future in terms of live shows and collabs?
We just got back from America after the Grammy’s and did a bit of writing with some exciting people there, stay tuned for 2024. The live show is only getting bigger and better, we’re gonna do a bunch of club PA shows UK/Europe in our favourite cities. Summer’s gonna be awesome for festival time, so if you see us playing roll through!