Close Counters | Auckland

Close Counters bring their soulful, jazz-infused dance sound to The Tuning Fork on 22 January, following a huge 2025 that saw the duo take their live band around the globe. They’ve played dream festivals including Glastonbury, Love Supreme, Brick Lane Jazz Festival, The Great Escape and Lost Village, alongside sold-out shows at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London and a packed 1000-capacity Croxton in Melbourne. Back home, they’ve also played Meredith Music Festival, Let Them Eat Cake, Falls Festival, Strawberry Fields and Party in the Paddock.
2025 saw the release of their first full-length original record, LOVERS DANCE ACADEMY, which climbed to #3 on ARIA’s Jazz & Blues Album Chart and was widely supported by Jazz FM, BBC Radio 1Xtra, 6Music, KEXP Seattle, Double J, RRR and PBS. UK tastemaker Tina Edwards called it “the best dance album of the year”.
Allan McConnell & Finn Rees are a prolific jazz-trained production pair creating soulful soundscapes, with collaborations including Young Franco, Denzel Curry, Shiv, Lyric Jones and Allysha Joy, and remixes for PNAU, Bebe Rexha, Hiatus Kaiyote’s Simon Mavin and Genesis Owusu.
With a fresh record in early production stages, 2026 is shaping up strong for “Australia’s version of Kaytranada” – Tommy Faith (triple j).