Good Neighbours love praising women. It’s adorable, actually. “Yeah, we’re big softies,” Oli Fox, one half of the UK indie-pop duo that also includes Scott Verrill, tells me. You can trace this reverence from their breakout single “Home”, which finds comfort in the embrace of a significant other, to their latest, “Superstar”, essentially a praise poem to a female object of desire. “I think for me, it’s love in general,” says Fox, “that’s where I’m always writing from.”
I’m speaking to the pair ahead of their first visit to South Africa, and the idea of finally meeting the people on the other side of their songs feels almost surreal. “It’s always crazy when you hear your songs getting played, like, on the radio in South Africa,” Fox tells me. “But the fact we’re actually being able to come over, it’s like another thing for us.”
“Home” became one of the most-streamed debut singles globally in 2024, and is probably the song South Africa’s general audience would know best. In that case, “Superstar” is a fitting extended introduction to the discography of Good Neighbours, who have built a global following around infectious, euphoric indie-pop. “’Home’ was never what we were basing everything around,” Verrill explains. “The other stuff we were making was kind of upbeat, indie, MGMT-esque stuff. So I guess ‘Superstar’ just leans a bit further into that side of things.”
Where “Home” explores the band’s favourite subject matter — love — as refuge, “Superstar” approaches it from the other end of the spectrum. “’Home’ is actually the first time I think I wrote from grief, and the relationship I was in at the time felt like an escape from the heaviness of those feelings,” Fox says. “But ‘Superstar’ is the complete opposite. It’s a bit more sleazy and about being so starstruck by a person that it’s almost intoxicating.” The song is one that will resonate easily with South African listeners, recalling the breezy, guitar-strummed indietronica of 2013 and Milky Chance. It’s infectious, and a little rough around the edges in a way that makes it immediately engaging.
After spending time making music that feels polished and carefully constructed, Fox says the new single gave them an opportunity to “switch things up a bit,” to step out from behind their usually polished production and be more direct. “We’re quite big personalities,” he says. “It’s so nice doing all of the beautiful, really well-polished music, but I feel sometimes we hide behind it. So ‘Superstar’ felt like a nice moment for us to push our production a bit more, push our lyrics a bit more, and be a bit more blunt.”
The guys are curious to hear how it will land with a South African crowd. I assure them it’s bound to bang — us Saffas love to shake ass, and “Superstar” is made to make you do exactly that. “We’re so excited to play it live,” says Fox before he giggles: “It’s impossible to sing!”
For their Cape Town debut, Good Neighbours are arriving with no expectations beyond the possibility of being surprised. “We have no idea what to expect in general from South African crowds or how they feel about us,” Verrill admits. “So the whole thing, we’re kind of just going in blind. And hoping that people will get it.” If their music is built around connection, the upcoming show offers the duo a chance to find out what that connection looks like on this side of the world. “If people want to dance, then you’re in for a treat,” Fox says.
Well, then. It seems Cape Town has been given a fairly straightforward assignment.
Good Neighbours performs live in Cape Town alongside Teeks on August 27 at the Grand Arena at GrandWest. Tickets are available here.
