The five-piece band speak to us about their dreamy pop sounds alongside a stream of their new single, 'Gene Ciampi'
Twin Sister, the five-piece band from Long Island, have drifted into the limelight over the past year with their psychedelic mix of ambience, pop and electro. Likened to everything from Björk to Fleetwood Mac, they float between genres with a surreal ease, lead by the breathy vocals of front woman Andrea Estella. Their debut album, ‘In Heaven’ is out on this September and features tracks such as ‘Bad Street,’ an example of the colourful carousel of funky bass lines and dream-inducing vocals that can be expected on the album.
Touring America and Europe this autumn with the likes of Wild Beasts, the Pain of Being Pure at Heart and Explosions in the Sky, Twin Sister are destined for big and bright things. They take time out to talk to us about their influences and the shiny future ahead.
Dazed Digital: People find you a hard band to define, your music spans different styles and genres with ease, what would you class as inherently ‘Twin Sister’?
Twin Sister: Pop music. We used to say Experimental Pop which may still work. We use song structure and pop arrangement as the base to build style off of. For 'In Heaven' we've tried to give each new song a different quality than the last, but I don't know if that will be our permanent philosophy. It feels like trying on different outfits.
DD: Who or what do you count as your biggest influences?
Twin Sister: We want some INTERNATIONAL FEEL! Mostly music from all around the world like Japanese Electronic music, Brazillian music, Korean, English folk, Terry Riley, Ann Margret, Tribe Called Quest, Kraftwerk etc. It's all over the place, we never try to stick to one or the other.
DD: You’re touring with the likes of Wild Beasts, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Explosions in the Sky in your 2011 autumn tour, what are you most looking forward to? and what has been your best tour experience so far?
Twin Sister: I'm looking forward to Big Sur in California for it's natural beauty. Were playing with Explosions in the Sky there so fans will be into getting moody and listening. Some of our best tour experiences have been outdoors on a nice day with all the bands together. We went swimming in Lake Michigan at the Indiana dunes with the band Mountain Man last summer and it was the best day. Hopefully we can pal up with everyone this autumn and make it a good time. That's what it's about, right?
DD: Your new album, ‘In Heaven’ is out Sept 2011, what can we expect from it?
Twin Sister: It has wide range. The arrangements are minimal and the style changes for each song. Some people might prefer a more cohesive album but it was something we had to do to keep growing. I think we could have used formulas from old songs to make a record everyone would have expected us to make, but staying a little uncomfortable kept us more creative and reactive to new ideas. It's 10 pop songs, all with different hats on.
DD: The first single, Bad Street is a lot of fun, and the video is filmed at Estella’s home, is it important to the band to have a sense of your own identity in your music?
Twin Sister: Yeah, in some cases. In others I think it's beneficial to keep a mystery to the sound to create atmosphere and let the listener fill in the blanks. But creating that identity is what makes artists so referencial and helps keep the arts moving forward.
Text by Rose Clark
Twin Sister - Gene Ciampi by DominoRecordCo
