Peking Duk
It’s taken a long time for Australia to develop a homegrown electronic music act that can hold its own on the world stage like Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles, aka Peking Duk. After their first hit (“High,” featuring Australian singer Nicole Millar) reached the top five down under, bloggers all over the world declared the duo to be the next Flume, and Sony/RCA signed them to a worldwide deal that resulted in several more collaborative singles, with ever increasing chart success. “Say My Name,” featuring Benjamin Joseph, did okay, but the following year’s “Stranger,” featuring Elliphant, landed on several notable Year’s Best lists, as well as spawning high-profile tours like the one bringing them to the Music Box August 4.
Their current track, “Fake Magic,” featuring British duo AlunaGeorge, has a bouncy new video that seems to take issue with DJ performers who wear masks, such as Deadmau5, Marshmello, DJs From Mars, and Daft Punk: “I see you, you got all this stuff, I feel you ‘cause it never looks like enough,” sings guest vocalist Aluna Francis to a generic-looking pair of lethargic, robot-dancing helmet-heads. “Honey, money only buys you fake magic, I ain’t no phony, I’ll take you far away with no tricks.”