Written by Cameron Wyatt
Four years after first making music together, Con Cook & Flawnt have arrived at keepmoving – their most complete & personal project to date. The mixtape is a testament to collaborative art, and how effective it can be when two friends who work together so well are able to create a project bouncing off of one another. The mixtape offers a mix of hip-hop and garage inspired beats & instrumentals, led by Finn’s (Flawnt) production, while the topics and meanings behind each song are beautifully laid out in Con’s lyricism and delivery.
Over the past two months, we’ve had the pleasure of joining them at two launch events and sitting down with the pair to discuss how the mixtape came together and the stories behind the tracks. The first launch event was an intimate party at The Jago in Dalston, where the pair ran through the mixtape, and went over the inspiration behind each song and the meaning it has for both of them. Listening to the project from start to finish while learning how each track came together revealed just how much thought had gone into every decision in the process. We asked Con & Finn about how that was, and how the project came together, to which they said ‘We usually share opinions on which songs we want and don’t want, because we work together from start to finish, so there’s not many disagreements in which songs make it and which don’t’. This was put simply by Con & Finn, but it explains why the project feels so cohesive and complete from start to finish, as they trust each other enough to the point where their creative instincts have come together.
Missumissme was one song that Con identified as being made when he was feeling pretty low, but the beauty of it is that he and Finn were able to turn that into an amazing, vulnerable moment of the mixtape. This added emotional depth is something that you’ll notice a lot when listening to this project, and this is also the main theme in kissandaplaster, shedding light on the state of the world we live in and how we need to look after one another. The theme of this song is highlighted by Flawnt’s production, setting the tone perfectly with the moody piano taking the forefront. As Finn said in our conversation – he was able to say musically, exactly what Con was saying lyrically.
Some other highlights in the mixtape are lead single carchatter, rubbleofus, & dogneck, all of which offer further honest and vulnerable glimpses into Con’s mind and experiences, as well as how he navigates his day to day life. The best part of the mixtape however, is once again, how complete and cohesive it feels. The first launch party offered an insight into how keepmoving was made as well as a first full performance, and the second launch party at Orange Room showed exactlywhat those songs have become in a busier live setting. The night was a great celebration of their mixtape, with Con & Finn performing some of the best songs throughout their discography together, ranging from some of their earlier work together in Take Time, all the way through to keepmoving. Having first seen Con perform at our Issue 5 release party back in 2024, the growth since then has allowed him to turn music into his full-time career, highlighting just how far he has come. Not only has he developed into a more confident performer, but the crowds he and Finn now attract are testament to the audience they’ve steadily built together. When we asked the pair about this growth, they said ‘It’s been great carrying on and doing more shows, but we want to do more. We’ve grown a good core of fans who come to our shows often and are enjoying it, and we just want to expand on that now’. This comes hand in hand with the development of their music, with Con saying ‘The music we make now is music we’ll look back on and be proud of, and the standards we’ve set now are different to before’.
With the way the pair are going, there’s little sign of momentum slowing down. Better yet, Con and Finn have confirmed that there’s much more to come – with their new single ‘Factor50’ out now!
