A “long fling” is one way to look at a solid, committed 10-year relationship—namely one espoused by either couples with commitment issues or those with a sense of humor. Given the songwriting personalities of Dutch musicians Pip Blom and Willem Smit of Personal Trainer, it seems pretty clear that the latter situation is the basis for their collaborative project Long Fling, announcing their arrival today with a self-titled indie-pop record careening through elements of post-punk, power-pop, and other genre detours familiar to both artists’ back catalogs.
Despite the breakneck speed of ideas at play, and both artists trading off lead vocal duties, Long Fling never sounds overstuffed or over-the-top. In fact it exhibits shockingly good chemistry for two musicians who’ve thus far never set anything to tape together. Then again, if they’re gonna be flip about achieving so commendable a relationship goal as a decade of partnership, why wouldn’t they also create a record that’s so casual about striking a perfect balance between two distinct creative voices?
While Blom and Smit have proven themselves adept as romantic and creative collaborators, their rolodex of reference points for musical-couple predecessors may be a bit lacking. “We thought about couples in music, but found we had to relatively quickly resort to acts we weren’t necessarily super into, or acts of which we didn’t know they were a couple, or whether it was relevant or whatever,” the duo concedes before introducing the revised concept for the playlist they put together for us: “Here’s 10 cool duos.”
Check out their picks below, and stream Long Fling here.
WILLEM SMIT
Toasters ’n’ Moose, “Taste the Biscuit”
Great band, go watch their film. “Disconnect” is my favorite song, but “Taste the Biscuit” is what got me into them. I’m afraid they’ve disbanded.
The Books, “Take Time”
Consists of Nick Zammuto (American?) and Paul de Jong (Dutch!). I got into them when my friend Otto de Jong (not related) played me their song “A Cold Freezin’ Night,” which is now probably one of my all-time favorite songs. I’ve listened to three of their records and it’s all great! Found sound combined with them playing and sometimes singing. Very cool! I also dug both their own projects, especially Paul de Jong’s record You Fucken Sucker.
Callahan & Witscher, “Columbus”
One of my favorite records of last year. Music about music. It’s very straight-forward, kind of funny, but also seems very sincere. I feel like I’m not getting all of it, really. It’s like there’s this retro joke going on, but there’s something that feels modern and real about it. “Columbus” is an epic touring song that I really like.
Tom and Jerry, “Main Theme”
My dad got me into Tom and Jerry when I was younger. I was never super into slapstick-y American cartoons like Looney Tunes. Maybe too big of a cast? Maybe I needed something more homely? I think one of the main selling points is the way they make the food look in Tom and Jerry. After I’d lost my baby fat, I was a pretty skinny kid—not super into food, either, but I was craving the cakes and roast chicken and all the other food Tom and Jerry would mess with. These guys are complete goofballs, by the way. I sympathize with Tom, but I’m a total Jerry myself.
Madvillain, “Shadows of Tomorrow”
MF DOOM uses a lot of words! Feels like I could go spelunking in his records for quite a while, which I haven’t done, really. But I had a bit of a phase a couple of years back where I listened to a couple of his records. I know that I really like this guy, and I think that Madlib and him make a great combo! This record is awesome.
PIP BLOM
Audiobooks, “The Doll”
Audiobooks have such a distinct sound. The vocal delivery against that sharp synth line in ”The Doll” just sticks—once it enters your brain, it doesn’t leave, and I love that.
UTO, “2MOONS”
Willem put me onto UTO about a year ago. The whole record is solid, but ”2MOONS” stands out—it carries this understated melancholy I keep coming back to.
The Breeders (Kim and Kelley Deal), “Divine Hammer”
This one speaks for itself. It’s the coolest duo around, in my opinion.
Dean Blunt & Elias Rønnenvelt, “5”
A duo I didn’t know I needed. This song is one of my favorite songs from 2025. Another melancholic one—definitely an ear worm, very addictive.
Confidence Man, “Holiday”
I’ve been following Confidence Man for quite a while now. First got introduced to them when we signed to Heavenly Recordings with Pip Blom back in 2018 (as they were on Heavenly, too). Great songs and even better live show.
