Weekly Release Spotlight: Twin Sister
Posted on 10/09/2011
Twin Sister
In Heaven
Domino
In Heaven
Domino
On their first two EPs, "Color Your Life" and "Vampires with Dreaming Kids" Twin Sister trafficked in a sector of alternative music that is so safe it is almost dangerous. Vocals were solemn and soft, synths washed over them lazily, and pretty electric guitar filled in the songs from there, in whatever form was needed. It's an aesthetic that plenty of bands have stumbled upon and stuck with, and for obvious reasons. It makes for really, really lovely songs. And Twin Sister is no exception. "Lady Daydream" is one of the best songs of 2010, as well as a possible title for the genre they've fallen into. The danger comes from the fact that there can only be one Beach House, one Atlas Sound, or one Stereolab. While falling in between the sounds of these and plenty of other bands can make for an excellent run of releases, to become a great band in this Lady Daydream subsect, something it's not enough to sound like other great bands. Something must set you apart. And something, many things, actually, do just that for Twin Sister on their debut LP "In Heaven".
It's an album that achieves aesthetic diversity while still feeling cohesive and unified, which has become audibly difficult for likeminded bands, looking to distinguish themselves from the mid-fi, twee dream pack. This is mostly possible due to lead singer Andrea Estella, whose melodies and lyrics both strike a subtly somber realism, where sorrow reigns supreme but is also trivial enough to be real and affecting. The stunning opener "Daniel" finds her lamenting, "Goodbyes are the loneliest / When you know you'll never meet / Face to face or feet to feet". The line would be a throwaway if not for that final detail, which is so intangibly sad, though it only half makes sense. Others on the album follow suit, including "Space Babe", which despite its playful title uses the chorus to call, "If it were up to me / I'd never leave".
The aforementioned Lady Daydream sound would fit perfectly with this sentiment, but Twin Sister have grown brave enough since 2008 not to settle for what fits easily, and it pays off. The album begins with two songs that are immediately catchy enough to recall the better one-hit-wonders of the 90s, before launching into "Bad Street" an unexpected electro-funk triumph. "Kimmi in a Rice Field" has anthem-status slow drums and pulsing synth that call M83 to mind and the dark, minor harmonies that Wye Oak have now perfected abound.
The comparison game is a treacherous one though. It sometimes lends more credit to those the band is being compared to, when it should be the other way around. It's important to know that Twin Sister has come across these sounds in a way that is clearly organic, and all their own. They've woven the sensibilities of their, sometimes disparate, peers into an excellent debut album. This may seem like a less than riveting achievement in a year when the most talked about releases have come from divisive artists like OFWGKTA, tUnE-yArDs, and Bon Iver. But I've always found that the most exciting albums withhold an element of disappointment. Once you know the songs well enough to be used to them, the excitement fades and you may be a little let down. This is an album that won't let you down on the first, tenth, or twentieth listen.
Stream: "Bad Street"