KLLO Are Just Awkward Cousins Who Want to Have Fun

"We didn’t try to force anything. There were no expectations and no pressure."

Photographs by Jens Ingvarsson

Fashion by Savannah White

If there is a single word that distills to its essence the success of Kllo, the Australian indie-pop duo comprised of cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam, “potential” springs to mind. After all, it was the sheer cosmic serendipity of their blood ties that brought the respective vocalist and producer—who didn’t necessarily grow up close, despite living minutes away from one another—together for a family birthday party performance.

“Kllo was never intentional, it all fell into place naturally,” Kaul shares. “We were just awkward cousins merely wanting to have fun and build a friendship with one another, so our music was characterized by naivety. We didn’t try to force anything. There were no expectations and no pressure. It’s harder to work together now than ever before—we’re more aware and opinionated since we’re more comfortable and experienced.”

In the end, it was what they could create as a unit that helped launch the Melbourne-born future-R & B band, now signed to Ghostly International in the U.S. Their latest single, the aptly-titled “Potential,” is a foggy, melodic synth-pop jam about getting hung up on pipe dreams and not embracing what’s right in front of you. “When life gets dull, we tend to fantasize about what should, could, would have been, opposed to sticking with the present. I’d be lying if I said I’m content with the present. I’m caught up in my imagination a lot of the time.”