Klangkarussell – Follow (Spotify)

Klangkarussell x GIVVEN’s ‘Follow’ drops almost a year to the day since Klangkarussell launched Bias Beachwith ‘Comoros’, their first single away from a major label deal that spawned hit singles ‘Sonnentanz’ and ‘Time’, and their debut album, ‘Netzwerk’. Going independent has proven to be a winning strategy: Klangkarussell nowhave over 2.75 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, spurred by the huge success of a run of singles, and Bias Beach has become home to other artistic configurations such as GIVVEN, who featured on ‘Ghostkeeper’and comprise Klang’s Adrian alongside Jordan and Nico.

Adrian and Tobi’s last single, ‘My World’ (feat. Kyle Pearce), and the accompanying short film, revisitedenvironmental issues that Klangkarussell have previously touched upon in their songs. This single joined ‘Shipwreck’ as a two-track release and has so far had over 3 million streams. Ahead of this came ‘Ghostkeeper’, their previous collaboration with GIVVEN, which has now hit over 7 million streams.

‘Comoros’ was Bias Beach’s debut release, and at the time Klangkarussell’s first new music in over 2 years. The burst of studio activity had followed a summer of standout festival performances and sold out headline shows that saw them play to crowds in the UK (sold out Night Tales London), Europe (including taking the Saturday night honours at Benicassim), Beirut and South America. This January, Tobi and Adrian played another sold out headline show at Night Tales London (which saw queues around the block), with further DJ dates in Europe and beyond. Forthcoming shows have been cancelled and rescheduled where possible due to coronavirus.

Klangkarussell, which translates to English as "Sound Carousel", were formed in Salzburg, Austria by Tobias Rieser and Adrian Held. Both respected producers in their own right, they first broke through with the jazz-tinged instrumental club record ‘Sonnentanz’, which reached the Top 10 singles chart in 6 different countries, including No.1 in The Netherlands. Like many dance artists faced with unexpected success, a record they’d written for their own DJ sets had taken on a life of it’s own, and when a vocal version - retitled ‘Sonnentanz (Sun Don't Shine)’ and featuring British soul singer Will Heard - was released the following summer, the track charted in both the UK and Ireland, going on to become one of the biggest dance records of this decade (despite the pair shunning all publicity).

Following the success of ‘Sonnentanz’, the duo then released their second single, ‘Netzwerk (Falls Like Rain)’, featuring vocalist Tom Havelock, and which also became a hit. Klangkarussell’s debut album, ‘Netzwerk’, appeared soon after and sporting the singles ‘Hey Maria’ and ‘In the Crowd Alone’ appeared in 2016, followed by ‘Time’, ‘Circuits’, and ‘Good to Go’ in 2017. Musically, and with the type of creative freedom they had during their initial rise to fame, both Tobi and Adrian have entered a new decade exactly where they want to be.