IF there's any Australian act who can lay claim to the title of "the COVID band" it has to be Lime Cordiale.
During the darkest days of 2020 when venues were operating under the harshest of restrictions, most artists and record labels were postponing album releases, fearing their music would simply disappear into the ether without conventional touring.
Lime Cordiale had a different view. Brothers Oli and Louis Leimbach were confident in their songs. They knew 14 Steps To A Better You was a hit record.
Three singles - Robbery (No.7), Inappropriate Behaviour (No.13) and Money (No.32) - had already polled in Triple J's Hottest 100 earlier that year.
When 14 Steps To A Better You was released in July 2020 it debuted at No.1, and its sunny mix of indie-pop, reggae and ska later earned the Sydney northern beaches duo seven ARIA Award nominations, of which they won Breakthrough Artist.
"We'd already pushed our album back once and we were like, 'no, screw this, we're releasing it and there's nothing stopping us'," Oli says.
"It was an open market for us as well as many had pushed their albums back. Suddenly everyone is getting the government pay outs and nothing is getting released and everyone's at home craving music.
"So I think we put our music out into the ether into open hands."
Lime Cordiale were also prepared to work damn hard when most of their contemporaries were hesitant.
In the winter of 2020 Lime Cordiale performed 18 80-people shows at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory, three 300-cap gigs at Brisbane's Tivoli and eight sold-out 100-cap sets at Newcastle's Cambridge Hotel. All were sit-down shows.
"It was quite humbling, doing 100-cap venues and building up from there again," Oli says."By the time we were doing shows to 1000 people again we were getting nervous, it was awesome."
Life is back to normal in the Lime Cordiale camp these days. Over the summer they performed at Wine Machine festivals in Tasmania and South Australia and on March 18 they'll be one of the headline acts at Wine Machine's new Hunter Valley home at Dalwood Estate.
The line-up also includes Hot Dub Time Machine, Bliss N'Eso, Northeast Party House, KLP, Vera Blue and more.
Oli says one positive to come out of COVID was it forced festivals to book all-Australian line-ups and local artists stepped up to the plate.
"The theory was the internationals sell the tickets and we put on a bunch of Aussies on there because it's cheaper," he says.
"But we've had some huge festivals with all-Aussie line-ups and I think this one is looking pretty great."
Lime Cordiale has also been busy on the recording front. A fortnight ago they finished tracking their third album, slated for release later this year.
Oli admits he and Louis have felt greater pressure from the increased expectations.
"It's been a long process," he says. "We had a few, not mental breakdowns, but a few moments of thinking that everything's shit, and then we went on tour for six months and that was a good break from it."
Lime Cordiale's recent single, Colin, is the first track released from the album.
The song was inspired by Men Of Work frontman Colin Hay, who sings on the track's final chorus.
"We got to know Colin in LA and went to his house when we were over there," Oli says. "It's a house among the gum trees in the Malibu desert.
"It had a nice and homely feeling and sort of grounded us again after being in wacky Los Angeles.
"He inspired it by sending us a video of him singing one of his great acoustic songs. I was just watching that online and it just inspired this song."
One lesson Oli has learnt as Lime Cordiale's success has broadened is the importance of fostering his relationship with his brother.
Rock and pop music is littered with ugly family fractures like Oasis' Noel and Liam Gallagher, Chris and Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes and even the Gibb brothers ensured The Bee Gees wasn't always a happy family band.
"Even yesterday I was messaging him [Louis] about next singles and merchandise and asking him did he wanna come to this meeting tomorrow, and he says, 'I just want a day off'," Oli says.
"I have to realise we should maybe just go for a surf or do something fun and not talk about the band for a sec.
"Over the years spending so much time together, we're so similar, we know each other inside and out and pretty much depend on each other a lot, so that's pretty beautiful at the same time."
Lime Cordiale play the Wine Machine at Dalwood Estate on March 18.
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