The Sydney indie-rock trio is entering a new chapter defined by spontaneity, creative confidence, and the irresistible energy of live music. Following the success of their debut album And Go Nowhere, EGOISM return with “It Takes Two,” a shimmering, guitar-driven exploration of temptation, emotional restraint, and the complicated thrill of making a decision you already know might be a mistake. In an exclusive conversation with MUNDANE, Scout reflects on the band’s evolving songwriting philosophy, their growing international audience, and why sometimes the best creative breakthroughs happen when you stop overthinking.
There’s a moment before making a questionable decision when everything still feels possible.
You know the history. You understand the consequences. You’ve probably promised yourself that you wouldn’t find yourself in this situation again.
And yet, something about the moment makes all that accumulated wisdom feel temporarily irrelevant.
Maybe it’s attraction. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s the familiar excitement of stepping toward something you’ve spent considerable time trying to avoid.
Whatever the reason, the decision suddenly feels inevitable.
For Sydney-based indie-rock trio EGOISM, that particular collision of desire and self-awareness lies at the heart of their latest single, “It Takes Two.”
Built around bright guitars, an insistent groove, and the restless energy of early-2000s indie rock, the track captures the moment when two people knowingly surrender to an attraction complicated by their shared history.
But rather than turning that experience into a dramatic narrative about romantic regret, EGOISM approach it with something more immediate.
They want listeners to feel the impulse itself.
“I tried to capture a moment of impulse where two people decide to hook up despite their history,” explains vocalist and songwriter Scout. “The music and lyrics are about the thrill of taking a risk and succumbing to lust.”
The result is a song that feels simultaneously carefree and emotionally charged.
And for a band whose previous work often leaned toward more overt storytelling, that shift represents a meaningful creative evolution.
Following the success of their 2025 debut album, And Go Nowhere, two sold-out national headline tours, and a growing international audience, EGOISM are increasingly interested in what happens when they stop trying to explain every emotion and simply allow the music to communicate it.
The Art of Making a Bad Decision Feel Irresistible
At first, “It Takes Two” sounds almost effortless.
A sliding guitar line introduces the track with a sense of lightness, suggesting the kind of carefree indie-rock atmosphere that might soundtrack a summer evening.
But as the arrangement develops, something more urgent begins to emerge.
The guitars become more insistent.
The rhythm grows increasingly propulsive.
And beneath the song’s bright exterior lies a tension between emotional restraint and physical desire.
It’s a contrast that EGOISM deliberately constructed.
“When writing ‘It Takes Two,’ we really wanted to make sure we got the groove and the bounce right,” Scout tells MUNDANE.
“We wanted to cocoon the ears in a wall of sound, creating a feeling of being overwhelmed or absorbed in the music.”
That description reveals something important about the band’s approach.
The production isn’t simply designed to accompany the lyrics.
It’s intended to recreate the sensation of being caught inside the experience they’re describing.
The overwhelming sound mirrors the intensity of attraction.
The rhythmic momentum reflects the difficulty of resisting an impulse.
And the comparatively detached vocal delivery introduces a sense of emotional ambiguity.
“We needed to create a sense of carefree aloofness through the vocals and lyrics,” Scout explains.
The result is a song that doesn’t ask listeners to evaluate whether the characters are making the right decision.
Instead, it places them inside the moment when the decision is being made.
And perhaps that’s why the track feels so immediate.
It understands that desire rarely arrives accompanied by a carefully reasoned explanation.
Sometimes the most significant emotional experiences are the ones we don’t fully understand until long after they’ve happened.
Growing Older Without Losing the Impulse
Although “It Takes Two” explores an impulsive romantic encounter, Scout’s approach to writing the song reflects a broader movement away from impulsive songwriting.
It’s a distinction she finds increasingly important.
“When you’re really young, you tend to have huge, dramatic reactions to things, and this was reflected in my songwriting,” she explains.
As she’s grown older, she’s become less interested in turning every emotional experience into a dramatic statement.
Instead, she’s drawn toward introspection, ambiguity, and the challenge of capturing a feeling without necessarily explaining its entire history.
“I am now more interested in writing from a place of honesty and introspection, without the need for melodrama.”
It’s a subtle but meaningful shift.
Younger songwriters often approach personal experiences through the urgency of immediate reaction.
Everything feels definitive.
Every heartbreak is catastrophic.
Every romantic encounter carries the possibility of changing an entire life.
But emotional maturity can introduce a different kind of complexity.
The recognition that contradictory feelings can coexist.
That people don’t always behave according to their own expectations.
And that the most revealing moments aren’t necessarily the most dramatic ones.
For EGOISM, this evolution has encouraged a move toward more abstract songwriting.
Rather than constructing a linear story, they’re increasingly interested in capturing the emotional texture of an experience.
“When we’re in the moment of an experience, we’re often not thinking about it from a narrative perspective,” Scout says.
“That comes later.”
It’s an observation that speaks to the difference between living through something and remembering it.
Narratives impose order.
They give events beginnings, middles, and endings.
But emotions rarely unfold so neatly.
By allowing their songs to become more abstract, EGOISM are finding ways to preserve the uncertainty that exists before an experience has been fully understood.
The Bassline That Changed Everything
Sometimes the creative identity of a song is established through careful planning.
Other times, it emerges from a single spontaneous decision in the studio.
For “It Takes Two,” the defining moment came when EGOISM experimented with a heavier bassline.
Until then, the track had occupied a more relaxed musical space.
Scout describes its earlier incarnation as laid-back and beachy.
But the addition of a driven bass part fundamentally changed the arrangement.
“Suddenly the song changed from being laid back and beachy to an early-2000s-esque indie dance song.”
It’s an appropriate origin story for a track concerned with the power of impulse.
Just as the song’s characters surrender to an unexpected moment of attraction, the band allowed a spontaneous musical decision to redirect the entire composition.
The shift also reflects EGOISM’s growing interest in translating their live energy into studio recordings.
For the trio, sounding like a band is essential.
That means preserving the interaction between instruments, the physical impact of live drums, and the distinctive character of dual vocals.
“I think there’s something to really sounding like a band, getting that dual vocal and live drum sound,” Scout explains.
“It’s really important to us.”
In an era when indie music can be constructed almost entirely through digital production, EGOISM’s emphasis on collective performance feels particularly deliberate.
Their sound depends on the chemistry between musicians.
And “It Takes Two” demonstrates how that chemistry can transform a relatively simple idea into something much more dynamic.
From And Go Nowhere to Somewhere Much Bigger
EGOISM’s latest release arrives at a particularly significant moment in the band’s career.
Their 2025 debut album, And Go Nowhere, achieved a No. 1 debut on the AIR chart and reached No. 9 on the ARIA chart, establishing the trio as an increasingly visible presence in Australia’s independent music scene.
They followed that success with two consecutive sold-out national headline tours.
Along the way, they’ve shared stages and collaborated with artists including half alive, Teenage Dads, The Rions, Middle Kids, Last Dinosaurs, Hatchie, UPSAHL, and Eliza & The Delusionals.
But success introduces its own complications.
After a well-received album and an increasingly demanding touring schedule, how does a band approach its next release without becoming trapped by the expectations created by its previous work?
For Scout, the answer is still very much a work in progress.
“If anyone figures this out, can they tell me?” she jokes.
“Right now, I think we deal with it with a lot of stress and manic energy…”
It’s a refreshingly candid response.
Creative momentum can be exhilarating, but it can also create pressure to continually justify the attention an artist has received.
Every new release becomes an opportunity to grow, but also a potential point of comparison with what came before.
Rather than pretending that the process is effortless, EGOISM acknowledge the uncertainty.
And perhaps that honesty is part of what makes their current chapter compelling.
They’re not attempting to present themselves as a band that has figured everything out.
They’re still experimenting.
Still learning.
And increasingly willing to let their instincts guide them.
Why Being a Local Band Still Matters
Despite their expanding international audience, EGOISM continue to describe themselves with a deceptively modest phrase:
“Just a Local Band from Sydney.”
It’s a description that might initially seem at odds with their growing success.
Their music has gained significant traction across streaming platforms, with particular momentum in Asian markets including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Japan has become one of their strongest international territories, while a Japanese-localized video has generated approximately 70,000 views.
Their appearance at Music Matters Singapore in 2025 also helped establish relationships that could support future touring opportunities throughout the region.
But for Scout, the idea of being a local band hasn’t become less meaningful as their audience has expanded.
If anything, international experiences have reinforced it.
She recalls attending a local show in Sydney with bandmate Olive when someone approached them.
The person had previously seen EGOISM perform in Singapore.
They had since moved to Sydney.
It was a small interaction, but one that changed how Scout thought about the relationship between local and international music communities.
“These international connections are really amazing,” she says.
“They’ve made me realise that each scene is just a local scene at its core, and that we’re all just music fans.”
It’s a perspective that challenges the conventional idea of musical success as a progression away from local identity.
For EGOISM, international growth doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning the community that helped shape them.
It means discovering that similar communities exist elsewhere.
Every city has its own venues.
Its own musicians.
Its own audiences.
And its own people who simply love being part of something.
The distance between Sydney and Singapore may be significant geographically.
But the experience of connecting through live music can feel remarkably familiar.
Learning From the Bands Around Them
EGOISM’s collaborative experiences have also played an important role in their development.
Sharing stages with established and emerging artists has offered opportunities to observe different approaches to performance, songwriting, and the practical realities of building a sustainable career.
For Scout, those experiences are particularly valuable because they reveal how other musicians operate beyond the public-facing aspects of their work.
“I think seeing bands play live and seeing how they work behind the scenes is really informative,” she explains.
“We’ve learned a lot from fellow bands.”
That willingness to learn from peers reflects the community-oriented philosophy behind their identity.
Rather than treating other artists exclusively as competitors, EGOISM recognize the value of exchanging ideas and observing different creative processes.
And as their own audience grows, those relationships become part of a larger network connecting independent music scenes across countries.
It’s a reminder that musical development rarely happens in isolation.
Even the most distinctive artistic identities emerge through ongoing conversations with other musicians, audiences, and communities.
The Sydney Scene Is Changing—and So Are They
Perhaps the most significant influence on EGOISM’s recent music isn’t a particular artist or production technique.
It’s the experience of participating in Sydney’s increasingly active independent music community.
According to Scout, the city’s live scene has seen a noticeable increase in shows and smaller musical communities over the past several years.
That growth has encouraged the band to spend more time attending performances, connecting with other musicians, and experiencing music as audience members rather than exclusively as performers.
And the change has influenced their songwriting.
“I think we’re having a lot more fun,” Scout says.
“The Sydney scene has seen a big uptick in shows and micro scenes over the last couple of years.”
The band has been going out more, participating in those communities, and allowing that energy to shape their creative instincts.
It’s also encouraged them to write songs that feel more immediate in a live setting.
Over the past several years, they’ve noticed that higher-energy material tends to generate stronger audience reactions.
That feedback has informed the way they approach new arrangements.
“We’ve been really motivated to make higher-energy songs because they tend to get a better reaction live.”
The goal isn’t simply to make louder or faster music.
It’s to create recordings that accurately reflect the experience of seeing EGOISM perform.
And with “It Takes Two,” that intention feels especially clear.
The song’s rhythmic urgency, guitar-driven energy, and collective performance style suggest a band increasingly comfortable embracing the physical excitement of its own music.
In Conversation With EGOISM
MUNDANE: “It Takes Two” is described as capturing a moment of impulse where two people decide to act despite their history. When you are writing, does placing a specific narrative moment under a microscope like this make the songwriting feel more or less vulnerable than your previous work?
Scout: As I’ve got older, I think my songwriting has become less impulsive.
When you’re really young, you tend to have huge, dramatic reactions to things, and this was reflected in my songwriting.
I am now more interested in writing from a place of honesty and introspection, without the need for melodrama.
I love the idea of exploring a specific emotion or experience, drawing on both my personal experiences and my imagination.
MUNDANE: You mention that your writing style has shifted from a more overt, narrative approach to something more abstract. What do you feel this new abstractness allows the listener to understand about the song’s emotional core that a clear story might have obscured?
Scout: I think narrative songwriting and abstract songwriting do different things.
When we’re in the moment of an experience, we’re often not thinking about it from a narrative perspective. That comes later.
We’ve been enjoying writing songs that reflect or capture something more raw and unfiltered, which can make the listener feel more in the moment.
MUNDANE: The track balances a sense of restraint and desire. How do you translate that specific internal tension into a sonic landscape that feels both “bright” and “urgent” at the same time?
Scout: When writing “It Takes Two,” we really wanted to make sure we got the groove and the bounce right.
We wanted to cocoon the ears in a wall of sound, creating a feeling of being overwhelmed or absorbed in the music.
At the same time, we needed to create a sense of carefree aloofness through the vocals and lyrics.
Then we worked to get the bounce right to keep things grooving, haha.
MUNDANE: With early-2000s indie influence present, were there particular sounds or textures you were chasing that helped define the “risk and succumbing to lust” feeling of the track?
Scout: I think there’s something to really sounding like a band, getting that dual vocal and live drum sound.
It’s really important to us.
MUNDANE: EGOISM has built a reputation as a “local band” that has quietly grown into something much larger, with significant success across Asia and major collaborations. How has the experience of connecting with international audiences, particularly in markets like Japan and South Korea, changed your perspective on what “local” means to your identity as a band?
Scout: The other day, Olive and I were at a local show when a fan who had seen us in Singapore came over to say hi.
It turned out they’d just moved to Sydney.
I think these international connections are really amazing, and they’ve made me realise that each scene is just a local scene at its core, and that we’re all just music fans.
MUNDANE: You’ve collaborated with a wide range of artists, from Middle Kids to Last Dinosaurs. Does the collaborative process typically change the way you approach your own songwriting, or is it more of an opportunity to see how your own sound fits into a larger ecosystem?
Scout: I think seeing bands play live and seeing how they work behind the scenes is really informative.
We’ve learned a lot from fellow bands, and we often use what we’ve learned and seen to help us.
MUNDANE: “It Takes Two” arrives following a very successful album cycle with And Go Nowhere. How do you reset your creative focus after a sold-out tour and high-charting success, to ensure a new single feels like a new beginning rather than a continuation?
Scout: If anyone figures this out, can they tell me?
Right now, I think we deal with it with a lot of stress and manic energy…
MUNDANE: The song’s narrative is about a mutual choice. When you look back at the development of this single, was there a specific “moment of impulse” in the studio, a spontaneous choice or sudden change in direction, that made the track click into place?
Scout: Yeah!
It was when we tried adding a heavy, driven bassline.
Suddenly the song changed from being laid back and beachy to an early-2000s-esque indie dance song.
MUNDANE: You’ve been busy with live dates, including recent festivals and upcoming headline shows. Does the energy of a live crowd, and the reaction to your newer material, inform the way you arrange tracks like this in the studio, knowing how they’ll need to hit on stage?
Scout: Yeah, absolutely!
I think over the last couple of years we’ve been really motivated to make higher-energy songs because they tend to get a better reaction live.
We’ve also been trying to make more songs that reflect how we sound live, both in terms of arrangement and sonically.
MUNDANE: If “It Takes Two” is the current entry point into this new chapter for EGOISM, what do you hope listeners are starting to understand about the emotional evolution of the band?
Scout: I think we’re having a lot more fun.
The Sydney scene has seen a big uptick in shows and micro scenes over the last couple of years.
We’ve been going out more and living life amongst it, and I think that’s reflected in the songs.
Learning to Have Fun Again
There’s an interesting contradiction at the heart of EGOISM’s latest chapter.
Their songwriting is becoming more introspective, but their music is becoming more energetic.
They’re moving away from dramatic emotional narratives while embracing the physical intensity of live performance.
And they’re building an increasingly international audience while continuing to identify as a local Sydney band.
Rather than attempting to resolve those contradictions, EGOISM seem increasingly comfortable allowing them to coexist.
Perhaps that’s what makes “It Takes Two” feel like such a natural progression.
The song doesn’t abandon the emotional honesty that shaped their earlier work.
It simply approaches that honesty from a different perspective.
Instead of explaining an entire relationship, it captures a single moment.
Instead of dramatizing desire, it allows the music to communicate its urgency.
And instead of treating artistic growth as a carefully controlled process, it embraces the unexpected decisions that can transform a song.
For a band emerging from a successful debut album and an intense touring cycle, that freedom feels particularly significant.
EGOISM don’t necessarily know how to eliminate the pressure that accompanies success.
They haven’t discovered a perfect formula for beginning again.
And they aren’t pretending that the next chapter will be free from uncertainty.
But they’re finding something equally important.
A renewed sense of excitement about making music together.
About participating in the communities that inspire them.
And about creating songs that feel as alive in the studio as they do onstage.
If “It Takes Two” is about the moment when two people decide to give in to an impulse, its creation reflects a similar willingness to trust instinct.
Sometimes a single bassline changes everything.
Sometimes an unexpected connection turns a distant city into a familiar community.
And sometimes growing as an artist means learning that not every emotion needs to become a dramatic statement.
Sometimes it just needs a good groove, a little uncertainty, and the freedom to have fun.
EGOISM — “It Takes Two”
Single: “It Takes Two”
Artist: EGOISM
Origin: Sydney, Australia
Previous album: And Go Nowhere (2025)
Listen: “It Takes Two” on Spotify
Watch: Official music video
Upcoming performance: October 30 — Adelaide University, with The Rions.
Photography courtesy of EGOISM.
