Anthony Naples / COUCOU CHLOE / Erika de Casier / Sleep D (Live)

The last party to close out Now or Never’s reign at Royal Exhibition Building draws together a killer session of heart-melting R&B, propulsive club bangers, hip-swivelling techno-house, and explorations of the rave unconscious.

Portuguese-Danish artist Erika de Casier isn’t searching for perfection – she’s just trying to show you where she’s at right now. A master of writing songs that speak to universal experiences of modern life, for all their specificities and quirks, her brand of enchanting and sensual R&B instantly hits and keeps on giving.

Dark glamour and twisted romance, high fashion and emotional voyeurism – welcome to the glittering world of COUCOU CHLOE. Slinky, supine beats sit side by side with wedding dresses and floral bouquets, and forbidding, futuristic sounds are thrown off-kilter by moments of lyrical intensity. Her chaotic live performances have seen her annihilate venues across three continents. She brings the noise for the first time to Australia for Now or Never.

New York City-based Anthony Naples is a DJ, producer and co-owner of the hugely influential record label Incienso. His sound travels through elements of ambient, acid-house, slow banging techno or post-punk, although this game of identifying genres quickly becomes labyrinthine: his magic doesn’t seem to require an obvious rhythm to incite movement in the body or a journey in the head.

Pillars of the Melbourne underground and childhood friends, Sleep D duo Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos and their coveted Butter Sessions label have ushered in a new era, sensibility and productivity to the city that raised them. A defiantly DIY two-man assembly line, their ever-evolving live show encapsulates a singular take on bush doof, mutated house, acid scraps and ambient.

Digital Art: 
House of Vnholy and Jannah Quill
Jahra Wasasala x Eek
Mikaela Stafford and VP Night (commissioned by Now or Never)

Supported by Museums Victoria.