On a highly Instagrammable spring evening last week, 3,000 eager fans assembled on the Sydney Harbour foreshore to welcome Rüfüs Du Sol home. Timed for the eve of the release of the band’s fifth album, Inhale/Exhale, the pop-up show had sold out in under 10 minutes. As boats jostled for a free view and bats flew overhead, the trio filed on stage in all-black ensembles and designer shades, perfectly framed against the sunset. For the next 90-odd minutes, the rolling cheers and beaming faces left no doubt that this is one of Australia’s best-loved electronic acts.
Rüfüs Du Sol’s return to the limelight comes at a buoyant time for Australian electronic music. A 2024 study of Spotify monthly listeners identified Australia as the world’s third-largest streaming market for electronic music, while Creative Australia found almost one in four music festivals in Australia is an electronic music festival. Against a stark reality for Australian music since the start of Covid (no new local releases from 2023 made Aria’s 2023 end-of-year top 100 charts), the global success of Rüfüs Du Sol and others like Dom Dolla, Fisher and Confidence Man is a hopeful counter-narrative.
