Hawley-Weld, who was born in Germany and moved around South America, North America and Europe with her family, and Halpern, who grew up in Boston, originally met at Brown University, Rhode Island. Hawley-Weld was singing jazz and bossa nova at an art gallery, and Halpern, who was DJing after her, began spontaneously mixing beats over the top of her vocals live on the spot. They instantly knew they had something special.

Early tracks such as 2016’s Drinkee and Awoo set clubs alight and they took their colourful live show on the road. Debut album Treehouse was released in 2018 and nominated for a Grammy.

Wet Tennis, which (roughly) stands for ‘when everyone evolves, then nothing negative is safe’), is a supremely polished and accomplished step up in songwriting and production from the clubbier Treehouse. Across a house music-inspired electronic-pop template, the duo explore a range of styles and champion lesser-known global collaborators.

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Kakee drops a Fistful of Dollars-style spaghetti western guitar over a clapped beat and Hawley-Weld’s Portuguese lyrics. Forgive Me, a collaboration with Turkish DJ/producer Mahmut Orhan, has mournful, cinematic strings. Sun Came Up, an Ibiza anthem in waiting with a Moroccan feel, partners the duo with Chicago’s John Summit. Mon Cheri, a riotous track with West African folk duo Amadou and Mariam, lets rip with what sounds like a kazoo solo on steroids.

Another album highlight is Larry Bird, a tropicalia-flavoured conga line starter with kettledrums, which pays tribute to the legendary Boston Celtics basketballer. Halpern’s father, a Larry Bird devotee, performs a commentator-style monologue.

“We were originally going to get a commentator talking about Larry Bird from TV back in the ’80s,” Halpern explains. “But then we realised it’d be cooler if we recorded my dad telling stories, like he used to when I was a kid, and make him sound like an old commentator.

“It’s such a special song to have my dad on it. We had a big show in New York at the Brooklyn Mirage, and he came out and delivered his speech during that part. He completely screwed it up and it was the funniest thing ever.”

Sofi Tukker play The Forum, Melbourne, on Saturday 23 July. Wet Tennis is out now.

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