CS + Kreme are Conrad Standish and Sam Karmel–two Australians who record slow, hallucinatory music. Based in and around the hinterlands of Naarm/Melbourne, there was a meeting of minds at an intrepid friend's day-party a few years back, then after one alchemic studio jam – the rest was history.

Over the past few years, CS + Kreme have released a string of disparate records on labels which share their ethos: Total Stasis, Wichelroede, Efficient Space, Reel Torque and The Trilogy Tapes. The latter collaborations with Will Bankhead have been the most prolific, his label becoming an unofficial home away from home for the duo. Issuing EPs Cold Shoulder in 2018, howwouldyoufeelwithoutthatthought as well as the Snoopy LP to much critical acclaim in 2020.

In 2022 they released their latest offering to The Trilogy Tapes in the shape of another album Orange, which Boomkat dubbed as "brilliantly incomparable". Where Snoopy was "quietly seductive, deeply romantic and stealthily addictive", Orange is a remarkably different record, composed of skittering drum programming, invocatory voices, and dubwise treatments. The LP is profoundly original, as if the duo have started again completely from scratch, paving a different path for themselves into the unknown. Guests on the album include British folk legend Bridget St. John and their returning collaborator, Australian composer-performer James Rushford, who also featured on Snoopy. 2

Transcending style and space, CS + Kreme don't follow a philosophy of making music, what they do is more fluid. Drawn like moths to the liminal state, they write slow and meditative "horizontal-music" which takes in heavy dub processing, sweeping post-punk and chamber soundscapes. In Karmel's words, "Inherently, there are influences that come through without us even realising. It's kind of that cliche where people put their two cents forward for what our influences are, but I don't think we've set out to be like anyone or anything."

Both seasoned musicians, Standish & Karmel together hold a rich history of collaborations in successful experimental groups such as: F ingers, Bum Creek, Standish/Carlyon and Devastations to name a few. In recent years they've collaborated with vocalist Bridget St John, James Rushford who played portative organ on both Snoopy and Orange, and Judith Hamann contributed cello on "April Fools Day", from howwouldyoufeelwithoutthatthought.

Following a string of stand-out shows in 2020 which included a seminal night at The White Hotel in Manchester, CS + Kreme developed commissions for Rewire Festival (NL), and Berliner Festspiel (DE). In 2022 they embarked on a 27-date tour of the UK, Europe & North America – with many sold-out shows, their most extensive venture on the road to date. Late in the year they began their radio residency on NTS. 2023 saw them writing new material and another string of European dates which included bills at the prestigious Bourse de Commerce in Paris, as well as Rewire Festival in the Hague

Worldwide outside Australia: chloe@annexagency.co.uk