Combining R&B, funk, hip-hop, and classic soul, the Australian collective Winston Surfshirt centers its approach on dreamy low-key grooves and precise ensemble playing. Fronted by the namesake singer/rapper Winston Surfshirt and based in Sydney, the group notched an early success with the midnight funk ballad "Be About You" from its 2017 debut album Sponge Cake. In the following years the band became regular performers on the Australian festival circuit, issued the 2019 follow-up Apple Crumble, and received both critical acclaim and strong audience support. A sequence of collaborative singles involving Genesis Owusu and Talib Kweli preceded the third studio album, 2023’s Panna Cotta.
In the mid-2010s singer, rapper, and multi-instrumentalist Brett Ramson launched a solo project under the Winston Surfshirt name. His reference points spanned Andre 3000 and A Tribe Called Quest through John Lennon and vintage psych-pop. After relocating from his hometown of Manly to nearby Sydney, he assembled a group of compatible musicians to broaden the Surfshirt aesthetic into a more collective, cohesive project. The resulting six-piece signed with Sydney label Sweat It Out! and tracked its debut, Sponge Cake, which introduced a pattern of food-related titles. Issued in 2017, the album’s funky slow jam single "Be About You" emerged as a breakout track and propelled the record to number 24 on the ARIA pop chart. Audiences and reviewers responded to the warmly produced amalgam of styles; alongside prime touring slots with Rüfüs Du Sol and Midnight Oil, the band began appearing at major festivals such as Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festival. Its follow-up, Apple Crumble, reached listeners in late 2019 and peaked at number 39 on the ARIA chart on the strength of breezy tracks like "Smile" and "Make a Move."
While live music paused during the global pandemic, Winston Surfshirt responded with the 2021 EP Cover Your Mouth (Live from Lockdown), then launched a run of notable collaborations including "Complicated" with Young Franco and "There's Only One" with Genesis Owusu. Those recordings later surfaced on 2023’s Panna Cotta, the group’s guest-heavy third album that also included contributions from Talib Kweli, Kimbra, and Dope Lemon, among others.
