Prolific duo slums it brilliantly

CAN’T figure out what to do this Saturday night? Melbourne duo Slum Sociable are coming down to do something about it.

Slum Sociable started when Edward Quinn (production, guitar, keys) needed someone to sing on some tracks he’d produced for a uni assignment. So he called the best singer he knew, Miller Upchurch (vocals, percussion).

The pair started writing new grooveladen “lo-fi jazz-hop” tunes that combined elements of soul, hip-hop, jazz and electronica, and topped them off with Upchurch’s highly personal lyrics.

After releasing the TQ EP in 2015, last November Slum Sociable unleashed their long-awaited self-titled album, which Rolling Stone hailed as “mesmerising”.

The album garnered international attention with the singles Name Call, Don’t Come Back Another 100 Times and Castle combining to clock up more than four million streams on Spotify.

Slum Sociable’s sound evolves with every release — as the duo proved last month with their pop-focused single Do Something About It.

Now Slum Sociable have taken yet another step in their ongoing evolution with the bright synth hooks and vocal melodies of new single Can’t Figure It Out.

“Can’t Figure It Out was fun to make,” Upchurch says. “We wrote it in the middle of a snowstorm in New York — an equally inspirational and hazardous setting!”

Slum Sociable are touring to promote both Do Something About It and Can’t Figure It Out, and play at Hobart’s Waratah Hotel from 8.30pm Saturday. They’ll be joined by local supports Jay Jerome and Sabine Bester.