Confidence Man Cracks U.K. Top 10 With ‘3AM (La La La)’
It’s a rare Australian double-whammy on the U.K. albums chart, as Kylie Minogue is crowned with Tension II (via BMG) and Confidence Man nab their first top 10 appearance.
ConMan, the Brisbane electronic pop outfit led by Janet Planet and Sugar Bones, opens at No. 9 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart with 3AM (La La La) (via Chaos/Polydor), an end-to-end party record that reawakens UK rave sounds of the ‘90s and 2000s.
That’s a career-best and first appearance in the U.K. top tier.
Recorded at Pony Studios in east London, 3AM (La La La) got the best possible exposure when ConMan stole the show at Glastonbury Festival 2024, their performance on the Other Stage beamed out live across the U.K. on the BBC.
How did ConMan nick a U.K. top 10? The answer can be boiled down to two specifics: a reputation for killing it at music festivals, and a less-easy-to-definite connection with U.K. audiences.
For Brits, ConMan and their music is a blast from the past.
“We knew pretty early on that the U.K. got us more than Australia did,” Bones, who, along with his teammates, moved to the U.K. two years ago, tells this reporter. “It was kind of like that situation when a band pops up and they just kind of belong somewhere else.”
He’s not wrong. ConMan’s third album, 3AM (La La La) scraped into the ARIA Top 40, opening at No. 40 when the latest tally was published Friday, Oct. 25.
Their first LP, 2018’s Confident Music For Confident People, reached No. 31 in Australia, while Tilt entered the top 10, climbing to No. 7 in 2022.
ConMan is nominated for a trio of trophies at the 2024 ARIA Awards, in the categories for best dance / electronic release and best video (both for “I CAN’T LOSE YOU” via I OH YOU/Mushroom Music), and best Australian live act (for Laneway Festival).
“We pretty much wrote every single song when we were wrecked,” explains Planet. “We’d get blasted and stay up till 9am coming up with music, but we noticed that 3am was the hottest time for when we were on it and the best ideas were coming out.”
Australian fans gets its chance to party with ConMan when their national tour continues this Friday, November 1st at Brisbane’s Tivoli, following sold out shows in Sydney and Fremantle over the weekend.
Later in the year, they head back to the UK for a trek that culminates with two sold out performances at London’s Brixton Academy.
As previously reported, Kylie earns a “landmark” 10th U.K. No. 1 with Tension II, with starts atop the tally, published Friday, Oct. 25.
The princess of pop is the only female artist to have secured chart-topping LPs in five consecutive decades.
According to the Official Charts Company, with her 10th leader, Kylie draws level with ABBA, Coldplay, Queen and Michael Jackson on the leaderboard.
Over on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, Melbourne-raised K-pop superstar Rosé creates a piece of history with “APT.” (Atlantic), her collaboration with Bruno Mars.
With a No. 4 debut, Rosé (real name: Roseanne Park) has the highest-charting single of all time by a female K-pop artist, besting Peggy Gou’s previous champ, “(It Goes Like) Nanana,” which went to No. 5 in 2023.
Born in New Zealand and raised in Melbourne, Rosé is a founding member of the all-conquering K-pop girl group Blackpink.