Kinder Continue Their Rise in the Dance-Pop World

Kinder – the Ghanaian-Australian duo made up of sisters Briony and Savannah Osei – have been taking the dance-pop world by storm, blending a mix of singing and production with live piano and guitar.

Listeners got a taste with Kinder’s cover of Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right” or as they DJed the Vogue x Barbie event. Dance music supporters may have caught them opening for Marshmello, Rita Ora, RL Grime, Crooked Colours, Big Freedia, Elderbrook, and other big-name artists, or might have heard their 2022 EP, the four-track release titled Yenko that produced singles “Come Along” (featuring A.GIRL) and “Rasta” (with Gold Fang). They followed this release up with Akwaaba, an EP seeing them dive into a mix of club sounds and more intense lyrical themes.

Now after a couple of remixes (“Like It” and “This 1 Thing”), plus red carpet appearances and collaborating with brands Bonds, White Claw, and Levi’s, the Kinder duo released an original track, “Lightyears,” back in August. 

For “Lightyears,” the duo teamed up with U.K. producer BCBC to appeal to pop listeners and the dancefloor. With a theme about not holding back, they consider “Lightyears” one of their favorites to date.

How did Kinder get started with making music?

Savannah started playing instruments very young: She started writing and producing her own songs at around 13. I (Briony) was more of a dancer, teaching dance for many years, but always had a love for music. Together we would mess around writing songs, recording YouTube clips in our bathroom trying to get the best DIY acoustics for the performance. Things really began to pick up when I went to university in a regional Australian town called Bathurst and started DJing at bars and house parties. 

In the holidays, I would come back and teach Savannah, and then from there, we eventually progressed to writing and producing our own tracks. We never intended to actually sing on them, though. An industry A&R who we really respected suggested we give it a go and so we did, and then from that point, we did all the vocals for our tracks.

How would you describe Kinder sound and influences?

It varies so much. Our sound we would say is House / Dance Pop, but it’s influenced by so many things: West African chants and rhythms play a big role. It changes so much with each song we make, though. We always like to change it up – we don’t like to be restricted to one particular sound.

How have you been using your music to celebrate your Ghanian heritage?

We love incorporating our heritage into our music. We recently just lost our father, so now it’s even more important for us to celebrate and embrace that culture and keep being inspired by it and having its influence in our music. We are particularly inspired by percussion and the melodies: They have a sweet innocence and uplifting energy that we love.

Tell us about “Lightyears”: How did this track come together?

“Lightyears” is one of our faves! Our record label set up the session with the U.K. producer BCBC (John) when he was over in Australia. We played around with a few ideas, and it reminded him of an idea he had: It was this incredible hook and some awesome lyrics. We loved the concept, so we continued to workshop it. Once we had the idea, we recorded the vocals at a slower BPM and then sped it up to have that effect you hear on it now.

What was your experience working in the studio with BCBC?

It was great. We got along really well. The song just flowed and came together naturally and super-fast. We then all sat up on the studio rooftop and ate food and shared stories together. We love John and can’t wait to work with him again, hopefully in London. 

You call this track one of the best you’ve ever written: What makes it your favorite or strongest track so far?

We think how different it is. We really wanted something in a different lane after our latest two EPs. We believe having it so fast and having the sped-up vocals sounded really refreshing and fun for us. The drop is also kind of ridiculous and something a little different to what we play so we thought, “Why not!”

What has been your approach to live performances?

We haven’t really performed this song live yet. Only DJ’d the track. We still have to work out how to sing it live, as it is sped up! But we will figure it out for our festival slots coming up.

What are your short- and long-term goals for your career?

Our short-term goal is to move between Sydney and L.A. to start making more music and playing shows there, which we are currently doing. Our long-term goals have always been to play U.S. festivals and tour the States and Europe – and to keep making the music we love.