Review Text
Partners, Sisters and Friends. Partner Look are a Melbourne-based band made up of German sisters Ambrin (Cool Sounds) and Anila Hasnain (Studio Magic), who are joined by their partners Dainis Lacey (Cool Sounds) and Lachlan Denton (The Ocean Party). The members also share a history of friendship and musical bonds. Trouble In Mind (in conjunction with Spunk/Osbourne Again in Australia) is honored to be releasing "By The Book" - the band's debut - a twelve-track charmer that swoons and smirks with a scrappy, yet sophisticated take on sparkling indie pop. Partner Look first got together to write the song 'Jana', a virtual wedding celebration for their family friend whose wedding they couldn't attend in person. Wanting to believe that the hit single sent ripples through the Rhineland's music scene, Partner Look continued writing songs and playing live shows across Melbourne. "By The Book" was recorded in a short window in May 2020, when Melbourne's lockdown was loosened for a few months, allowing five people at home. It was recorded in a studio built by Lachlan and Dainis in Dainis' and Ambrin's garage in Brunswick. Lachlan recorded all his drum-parts playing with the whole band in one go. The rest of the band re-recorded and edited their parts in the following three weeks. Dainis engineered it and Liam "Snowy" Haillwell mixed and mastered all tracks. The band is a vehicle for all members to share their own song ideas and collaboratively progress them in an open and encouraging space. However, misunderstandings often underpin the creative process, as the band name exemplifies. Partnerlook is a German expression referring to two people wearing similar or matching outfits. After years of using the pseudo-anglicism to compliment friends wearing matching outfits, who must have been too polite to ask, Dainis and Lachlan finally wondered: 'what do you mean with Partnerlook?!' Partner Look's music often questions place, belonging and the relationship to 'home' in a connected and sometimes disconnected world, focusing on where we differ and where we, as humans, are inherently similar. "By The Book" is released on CD & LP (a limited "baby blue" vinyl version is available while supplies last) & available to download and/or stream on all available DSPs.
