Close Counters’ whirlwind 2025 saw the duo release their first full-length-original-record, ‘LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY’, which climbed to #3 on ARIA’s Jazz & Blues Album Chart, and was widely supported by Jazz FM, BBC Radio 1Xtra, 6Music, KEXP Seattle, Double J, RRR, PBS and UK tastemaker Tina Edwards noted the record was “the best dance album of the year”.

Splitting the year between London and Narrm/Melbourne, their album tour saw them tick off dream festivals with the live band at Glastonbury, Love Supreme, Brick Lane Jazz Festival, The Great Escape and sold out 2 x Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London; whilst ‘back home’ they packed 1000 people into The Croxton in Narrm. In Europe they’ve played Lost Village, Defected Malta & Croatia, Manchester Jazz Festival, Somewhere Soul Showcase, and down-under notched Meredith Music Festival, Let Them Eat Cake, Falls Festival, Strawberry Fields and Party in the Paddock.

Between touring the globe this year (inc. stops in Kazakhstan), Allan McConnell & Finn Rees remain a prolific jazz-trained production pair creating soulful soundscapes on Snatch (collab with Riva Starr), Glitterbox, The Remedy Project and released a remix for Toy Tonics (Kapote EP). Ever-flowing with creativity, they’ve collaborated with Young Franco & Denzel Curry, Irish singer-songwriter Shiv, US’ Lyric Jones, Allysha Joy, and are remixer favs turning out flips for PNAU & Bebe Rehxa, Haitus Kaiyote’s own Simon Mavin, Young Franco & Denzel Curry, Tim Shiel and multiple ARIA Award- Winning Genesis Owusu, Bristol-based Elder Island and Mark de Clive-Lowe.

The pair’s ‘23 sample-heavy Music Victoria Award-winning album, ‘SOULACOASTA II’ was touted by tastemakers Gilles Peterson, Folamour, Jamz Supernova, NME, XLR8R, and landed Album Features with Australian stations Double J, 3RRR, PBS and 2SER. Previous releases have been sync’d by FIFA 23, Apple iPhone and BBC Radio 1Xtra put the band on the map in the UK for their ‘FLUX’ EP and was hotly tipped as their ‘EP of the Week’ and ‘After Dark Discovery’.

With a fresh record in early production stages, and festival dates in tow across Australia and the UK for their never-ending summer, 2026 is shaping up strong for "Australia's version of Kaytranada" – Tommy Faith (triple j).