The Long Sunset will feature four time Hottest 100 featured band, Lime Cordiale, who will bring their suave grooves to the Scenic Rim’s favourite annual event on 29 April.
It was while playing a gig in Vienna, Austria, that Oli and Louis Leimbach, better known as Lime Cordiale, made eye contact and exchanged the same thought: ‘What the hell is going on here?!’ The duo were on their first headline European tour, not really knowing the size of their fanbase over there. ‘We took a gamble,’ says Oli with a shrug.
They certainly weren’t expecting a big crowd in Vienna, but not only did Lime Cordiale sell out the show, when they performed that night, the audience knew all the words to their songs, something that continued to happen throughout their European tour. ‘When you play a show and strangers are singing your own song back to you, it’s like a massive drug,’ says Oli. ‘You sort of get addicted to that.’
Back at home, audiences provide that drug in spades. Lime Cordiale’s infectious performances and genuine, generous interactions with their fans have made them one of Australia’s buzziest acts over the past couple of years. It’s a fact that was reflected in the Triple J Hottest 100 poll in January 2019 when Lime Cordiale was the only act to have four songs in the top 40 – a feat that not even Billie Eilish pulled off. It’s been an incredible start to the year for the Sydney duo, but the brothers would be quick to tell you that it’s been a long way to the top.
Their growth was organic, too, thanks to their tireless gigging. In 2012, the year they released their debut EP, Faceless Cat, and they played about 100 shows.
Eight years, three EPs and one album later and the boys have nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram and are playing to wildly enthusiastic crowds across Australia and overseas, with James Jennings (drums), Felix Bornholdt (keyboard) and Nick Polovineo (trombone, guitar), rounding out the touring band. The new Lime Cordiale album, 14 Steps to a Better You, represents how far they’ve come, both musically and personally.
The year ahead looks equally bright for Lime Cordiale. Heavy touring is something the brothers have always found more energising than exhausting, especially when they return to Europe and find that their fans have brought their mates, and mates of mates to their shows and everyone in the house is singing along.
Oli says when you release a song, you don’t realise that people know it until you play a show and people are singing that song back to you. ‘That’s pretty huge, and it’s incredibly rewarding.’
Rewards for Lime Cordiale, and you, as they play alongside Winston Surfshirt, Hatchie, Sycco, Tia Gostelow and more at The Long Sunset, 29 April at Elysian Fields, Canungra – info and tickets can all be found at: qldmusictrails.com.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
