Set Mo: Surrender

Rebecca Varidel
11th Feb 2019

Celebrating the release of their brilliant debut album, one of Australia’s most loved electronic acts Set Mo have announced the debut of their live show on the Surrender Album Tour. Touring Australia and New Zealand this May and June, the Surrender Album Tour gives Set Mo fans and electronic music lovers alike the world first experience of their live show featuring all of Set Mo’s massive tracks.

The Surrender Album Tour follows a huge 2018 for Set Mo which saw them drip-feeding the album across 11 single releases in 2018 as a part of their Set Mo “Track a Month” series, culminating in the 16 track album which was released February 1, 2019.

Surrender went straight to the #1 spot on the iTunes Australian electronic albums chart on the day of release, and has been praised by media including Billboard, The Herald Sun and Dancing Astronaut.

Nick Drabble & Stu Turner have spent the past two years working relentlessly, composing and writing songs inspired by their travels and personal experiences. The pair worked in studios across London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Australia, teaming up with the likes of Touch Sensitive, Happiness is Wealth, AJ Wright (Cloud Control), Asta and Julian Hamilton (The Presets).

Surrender is a sublime album of Electronica, Vocal House, Deep House and Breakbeat, with influences of the UK sound, 90s rave and even Brian Eno. The 16 track album opens with a trifecta of 2018 hits released as part of their ambitious track a month campaign, including “Surrender”, “Near” featuring Asta and “Down The Line” with vocals from Cloud Control’s AJ Wright. Next arrives something new, pairing the guys’ signature house beats with Melbourne artist Woodes' angelic vocals on “Counter Human Emotion”. Having previously collaborated on the epic single, “I Belong Here”, this budding hit is another enticing listen. The pair soon enlist the soulful vocal stylings of Thandi Phoenix on the dance inducing “Afterglow”, before slowing down for the simmered groove of “Bergamot”. Keeping the pace, “Fault Lines”, “Communicate” and “Stuck” effortlessly dance their way through the album’s halfway point, cataloguing the varied house and dance influences.

“I’ll Be There” arrives next, featuring strong 70s disco vocals from Happiness Is Wealth driven by a soulful and energetic build. “See The Light” represents a sharp turn towards gritty basslines and breakbeat rhythms, followed in similar tone with “Nightmares” featuring Scott Quinn and new release “You Don’t Know Why”, melding enchanting key progressions with an alluring backbone of drum and synths. “Unity” echoes back to 90s club music, sending you into a euphoric trance of syncopated beats and skipping rhythms, while “Wish You Were Here” harks to a timeless Set Mo sound, imbued with summery house vibes and iconic drops. Closing out Surrender, “Woodburn” takes listeners through an intensifying instrumental dance tune, giving one final nod to old school electronica with a signature Set Mo twist.

“It was a wild ride travelling around the world and working with so many amazing people on writing this music. From London, Berlin and Amsterdam to country NSW and the Adelaide Hills. These destinations really influenced the sounds on our album. We grew musically, as producers and as people during this journey.”

Surrender arrived as the completing product to Set Mo’s biggest year to date. Their track a month series saw them share a whopping 11 releases, receiving support from the likes of triple j, the HIT Network and Music Junkee to name a few, plus soaring streaming success on Australia's iTunes Electronic Chart, Apple Music's A List & features on 11 New Music Friday Spotify playlists globally. With a colossal 59 shows performed in 2018, including Set Mo’s famous Stamina Sessions, a 24-date Australian wide tour and festival appearances across Fiji, Bali and the United States, the pair continue to live up to title of Australia’s hardest working production duo.

Set Mo’s live show is the next exciting step in the duo’s unmissable trajectory, following an intensive touring year in 2018 when they played almost 60 at capacity shows across Australia, New Zealand and USA. On the forthcoming debut of their live show, Set Mo said “Over the past year it became very obvious that the biggest tunes in our DJ sets were our own music. It has been overwhelming and wonderful to hear crowds singing along to every word of our songs. We could really feel that it was time for us to develop the live show which features all of our own songs, along with a few surprises. We’ve been working hard in the creation of this show. It’s going to be a audio and visual spectacle and we can’t wait to unleash it.”

The progression from DJ to fully-fledged live show will take Set Mo’s on-stage presence to an entirely new level. Bringing live vocalists on the road along with unique analog gear, visuals and lighting design, the Set Mo live show is not to be missed.

Catch Set Mo @ Oxford Art Factory 30 May