Confidence Man – 3AM (La La La) Review

Have some confidence in the Australian duo and finally make the plunge. Confidence Man made some waves this year with a stunning Glastonbury performance – and it may very well be how many get into the band. But for those who knew of but never got around to Tilt, this latest album from the duo is a fine place to start. 3AM (La La La) has the booming joys of dance-pop at its finest. Past loves and future experiences form the base for the glory days of partying found in this bouncy new album from Confidence Man. Through this sensitivity and wild, carefree sense of spirit there comes a pop-adjacent feel. They sound as though the charts of the last decade are alive – and as we know the future is dependent on the past. Nostalgia runs through 3AM (La La La), the big difference is context.  

Confidence Man is not some novelty act prying open the feel-good factor of earlier times but is adapting those tones of electronic repetition to lived-in experiences in and around London. Repetition is the key to Confidence Man and while not everything lands, the likes of Control feel rather light for instance, the bulk is an enjoyable route through the energetic euro house scene of today. Pill-popping and its surge in club culture, as proven by the cocaine-addled status of Brat from Charli XCX is just where the music is headed. It is not glorification but certainly has nothing to say for itself on Breakbeat, and much of the Confidence Man aesthetic is dependent on the joys of a live act, bouncing around the stage and challenging the chart noise with their stylish attitude. But their desire for a great beat, as it is with anyone, is sought after and understandable. Pill-popping your way there does little to affect the quality of music, just the experience of the time. But then it is the tongue-in-cheek, post-cool feel expected of the band, and to that end, it works well. 

Repetitive pieces like Control or Breakbeat are just the price we pay for more interesting songs elsewhere. Once the door to understanding the instrumental Confidence Man style is unlocked there is little more to discover. Clubs are only as interesting as the person attending and it means Sicko is where the great fun of 3AM (La La La) lay. Worship the dancefloor and it, in return, will care for you. 3AM (La La La) is built on this principle and it comes and goes in waves of instrumental joys, cultural assessment and lyrical assumptions of who filters through the scene. There are songs like Real Move Touch that feel so of the time Confidence Man is riffing from that it could fit into the scene without much hassle. But such is the point of this album – and an effective work of its blistering early-2000s sense can be felt in the latter half.  

Confidence Man hits it well with the purpose of this album. Club music with a familiar twinge and energy for those stuck at home on a random day of the week. Its titular track brings on the instrumental flourishes so consistently held up throughout 3AM (La La La), a joyful album filled with club pastiche and putdowns of the scene Confidence Man has so brilliantly swaggered through. Repetition is crucial to a project like this but remains dependent on the quality of the lyrical plays, and the introspective flourishes which come from being locked to a dancefloor. Engaging material from a band whose burst of interest comes from their stage presence, from the bold ideas they have to offer – listening has a different appeal, one where the subtleties of their sound prosper.