Better known as sister-duo Kinder, Savannah & Briony Osei are the Ghanaian-Australian singer-songwriters who’ve been performing at LGBTIQ+ events around Australia for a number of years, cementing their places in the hearts of many in the community.
They’ve performed at events like Poof Doof in Sydney, Big Gay Day in Brisbane and – most recently – Summer Camp Music Festival in both Sydney and Melbourne.
What may come as a surprise to some, then, is that neither sister identifies as being part of the LGBTIQ+ community. With this in mind, the duo explain that, “we’re honoured and thrilled to be welcomed into the queer community and into queer spaces.”
They add, “I think – for us – even though we don’t identify as queer ourselves, I feel like we’ve always just felt really connected to the queer community. It’s kind of hard to put into words, but it’s just this energy and this feeling. And sometimes – without getting too deep – I put it down to also being a part of a minority community ourselves growing up. I feel like that connection is there with the queer community.”
“We just feel very accepted. And there’s no judgement. And, you know, it’s actually really nice preparing for shows because we don’t feel like we’re going to be judged. We feel like we can just go out, do what we do, and be ourselves.” And doing what they do (AKA being two powerhouse women) is what the gays love and will always support.
Following their appearances at Summer Camp Music Festival, Kinder dropped a brand-spanking-new EP, ‘Akwaaba’ (meaning ‘welcome’ in their father’s language, Twi). They describe ‘Akwaaba’ as being, “a little bit different to our previous EPs…It’s a little bit more mature.”
“Our first record was a very fun ride. It was childish almost. And [with ‘Akwaaba’] we wanted to experiment a bit and welcome you to another side of us that hasn’t yet been explored…So this is the older version of Kinder (plus a couple of years and a lockdown).”
One significant milestone for the duo is that EP marks the first time they’ve worked with a team of producers IRL since COVID:
“It was a bit nerve racking at first.
“We had never met them before (Jono [Ma] and Jonti [Danilewitz], the guys we made the EP with) but we all just connected so well.
We got to do it in Byron Bay, in Jonathan’s house, and we were just jamming on the floor and just chucking around all different ideas. And it just came together. It was just really nice being able to connect with people again.”
The four-track EP, which they explained represents a more mature side Kinder, includes one track in particular, ‘The Takeaway’, which embodies this more than the rest. “‘The Takeaway’ is the most meaningful, lyrically,” they explain. “It just speaks about getting through a hard time and helping a friend (or anyone) get through that. And we’ve all been there. And that’s something we’ve not really tapped into that before. Usually it’s just joy and partying and this is like more real.”
“We’re really keen for people to hear that because, as we said, it’s the deepest that we’ve ever been, and we’d love to have people connect to it.”
However, it wouldn’t be a Kinder record without a feel-good tune (or two) thrown into the mix. In fact, the remainder of the album is dedicated solely to, “partying and having a good time,” which acts as the through line to their first EP, ‘Yenko’.
Kinder’s new EP ‘Akwaaba’ is available to stream now.
QUICK FIRE ROUND WITH KINDER:
Where are you most excited to perform in the near future?
New Zealand. We’ve never been to NZ before, so that’s exciting. And we’ve heard that they’ve got a really cool bush doof kinda vibe, which is what we’re all about.
Once you finish touring, what’s next for Kinder?
We really want to head overseas and work with people over there. We really want to try and do an LA trip and a London trip and get into the studio and see the sights.
Dream location to perform?
The Brooklyn Mirage in New York.
