Louis The Child

Hailing from the Chicago region, the electronic duo Louis the Child fuse an accessible pop sensibility with driving dance rhythms to produce uplifting anthems equally at home in clubs and on festival stages. Their tracks occasionally incorporate hip-hop and alternative rock elements, and since arriving on the scene in 2013 the pair have worked alongside Foster the People, Future, Icona Pop, K.Flay and numerous others. Following a decade of EPs and consistent live dates that steadily expanded their audience, they issued their first proper studio album, Here for Now, in 2020. Subsequent collaborations with A R I Z O N A, Theophilus London and Kasbo appeared alongside further EPs such as 2022’s To Believe, while instrumental beat tapes including two Candy installments and Black Marble also surfaced.

Although Robert “Robby” David Hauldren and Frederic “Freddy” Judson Kennett attended the same high school in Winnetka, Illinois, their paths did not intersect until later. Each maintained separate musical endeavors—Hauldren handling the decks as Haul Pass and Kennett producing as Fatboy—before they connected on March 18, 2012, at a Madeon concert. Even as Kennett finished high school and Hauldren began studies at the University of Southern California, the two elected to form a project together. Their opening release, the Dimensions EP, paved the way for singles such as “It’s Strange” with K.Flay, “Weekend” with Icona Pop and “Fire” with Evalyn. Continued touring brought sold-out U.S. headline shows and eventual festival slots, culminating in a full-circle moment when they joined Madeon onstage as his support act.

As their radio-friendly electronic style reached broader audiences, additional high-profile partnerships followed. In 2016 the duo teamed with New Orleans rapper Pell under the name Pellican Child for the single “Turn Me Down,” drawn from a planned joint EP. That same year they issued the Love Is Alive EP, which included the title track featuring Elohim and “Phone Died” with Blaise Railey. After dropping the beat tape Candy, they reunited with Love Is Alive vocalist Ashe for “Right to It.” A career highlight arrived in 2018 when “Better Not,” their gold-certified collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Wafia, became their highest-charting U.S. dance single to date and first Australian hit; the track appeared on the Kids at Play EP alongside Quinn XCII and NoMBe, after which work began on their debut full-length.

The optimistic Here for Now surfaced in 2020, containing U.S. Dance Top 30 entries “Free” with Drew Love, “Every Color” with Foster the People and “Little Things” with Chelsea Cutler and Quinn XCII, plus guest spots from EarthGang, K.Flay and Bob Moses. Candy II arrived the same year. A deluxe edition of the album followed in 2021, joined by standalone singles “Somewhere Else” with BabyJake and “Encinitas” featuring Goth Babe. The Euphoria EP showcased A R I Z O N A, Theophilus London and Bea Miller, while “Blow the Roof” with Kasbo and Evan Giia landed on the 2022 EP To Believe. Black Marble, the third beat tape, arrived with an accompanying film, and the standalone track “Stay with Me” featuring U.K. singer-songwriter Absolutely was released in September 2023.