A duo from Chingford and Woodford have released their debut single. The song features a sample from Rosie Gaines’ classic, Closer Than Close, and is currently Number 34 in Music Week’s Upfront Club chart.

Closer, by cousins Nathan and Jermaine Williams, known as II Dimensionz, is taken from their upcoming debut EP, Love From Above, being releases this month.

The soulful R&B track features special guest vocals from Mark Asari and rapper Nick Brewer.

“We were inspired by Rosie Gaines Closer Than Close, which is one of our favourite old school tracks,” says Nathan. “It felt really good to make. We played the drums, the synths and arrangement, then we had Mark and Nick come in, who brought their own flavour to the track.”

“We’re really pleased with the result” adds Jermaine. “You can hear the riffs, you hear the old school garage and old school melodies but with the new school – we want to bridge that gap. It’s what II Dimensionz are about.”

Whilst inviting special guests in for vocals, all song writing, instrumentation and production is done by the pair and they’re keen to keep control of all aspects of creativity.

They tell me this is something they’ve learned from their dads – who were both in the music business. The cousins were born and raised in east London and their fathers played with the likes of Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Chaka Khan and LL Cool J.

They tell me that they were brought up with music in their blood. “We were taken to watch band rehearsals and gigs and sharing the excitement of watching our fathers perform live was a huge inspiration. It laid the foundations to our own musical journey,” they tell me.

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Their four track EP is described by the duo as a modern day take on classic 80s soul with 90s R&B.

Alongside their current single the EP also includes the tracks Waiting Room, Coming Together and a deep house edit of Closer.

“It was inspired by our passion and love for real music, whether that’s 80’s Motown, soul, rare groove or 90s R&B,” the boys add. “But we also made it during a difficult time when we were losing the family matriarch, our Grandma, who kept everything together. She showed nothing but love and made us feel secure. This EP is us trying to find meaning in our music.”