Under the orange incandescents of Banyan Studios’ recording space, Kllo’s Chloe Kaul explains the creative consequences of being in new environments and, resultantly, the evolution of the duo’s “Dissolve.” Fittingly, this Buzzession was shot ten thousand miles away from Kllo’s Melbourne home during their first international tour. Koul and cousin Simon Lam formed Kllo in 2014 when their mothers suggested the two introverts make music together. Lam, a former engineering student with a side interest in producing, had the aesthetic vision for the project: he took one of Kaul’s folk demos and chopped it up with an infectiously looping beat. The resulting track became the band’s first hit, “False Calls.” 

Since then, the group has garnered ample SoundCloud clout for their modern Aussie take on Y2K-era garage pop. Despite their dancehall sound, Koul and Lam make emotionally intimate music with lyrics fit for lonely nights at home. In this Buzzsession, directed by The Wild Honey Pie founder Eric Weiner, the duo strip “Dissolve” and “Nylon” into the piano ballads Koul originally intended them to be. The untreated wood walls of Banyan’s live-in recording studio complement the tracks’ newfound nakedness. Without the hyper drum machine beats and warbled backing tracks, “Dissolve” and “Nylon” are fragile expressions of feeling. This Buzzsession highlights the vulnerability at the core of a group now earning international acclaim, a pair of cousins who were once afraid to share their music outside of their own bedrooms. We are so thankful to PopMatters for premiering these videos.