CHANGING THE TUNE
T Two years on fromf their hi SayS Lou L Lou L debut, Miranda and Elektra Kilbey are no longer about dreaming, but doing. By Noelle Faulkner. Styled by Petta Chua. Photographed by Jake Terrey.
“NOW WE HAVE THE MEANS AND THE LUXURY TO ANALYSE, INDULGE IN OURSELVES, OUR MUSIC”
Certain keywords seem to be synonymous with Swedish-Australian sister duo Say Lou Lou: “luxurious”, “feminine”, “nymph-like”, “dreamy”, to name a few adjectives that personified Miranda and Elektra Kilbey’s sound, or, rather, the 360-degree universe of doe-eyes, languorous sighs and 70s disco vibes that the duo had crafted with their debut release three years ago. At the time they had both the music and fashion worlds in awe. Think: Bianca Jagger slinking around Studio 54 in Yves Saint Laurent, Jerry Hall shimmering in Halston, Tom Ford-era Gucci, opulence, glitter and the overall decadence of a perfume advertisement. The character Say Lou Lou played was the quintessential ingénue, the muse – aloof dream girls among a cloud of mystery, youth and vulnerability.
Today, however, amid writing new material, the 25-year-old dual citizens are in a more empowered and focused place. The sisters (daughters of Steve Kilbey, frontman of iconic Australian band the Church) discuss direction, power and focus as if they’re building an empire; finishing each other’s sentences with sharp precision, as they name-drop newfound reference points: Peter Lindbergh’s photographs of the supers in the 90s (more for a “feeling, rather than style”), the allure and sensuality of the French woman, the head strength of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (whose presence they connected with when visiting Chanel’s 31 Rue Cambon apartment, thanks to a friendship with the maison), and human connection found on the road while touring extensively. It only takes a 30-second listen of the duo’s most recent release, a cover of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive, to understand Say Lou Lou’s new direction – gone is the glitter and glamour, and in its place, style rooted in intelligence and power, as a raw and pared-back rhythmic variation of their sound emerges. A series of black-andwhite videos posted to social media reiterated the sentiment visually, in which Elektra and Miranda appear make-up-free, styled in oversized power suiting while leaning over the camera, which shoots from below, in a classic dominant stance.
It’s likely that this has something to do with the LA-based sisters’ independence, which came from a long-winded path to releasing the 2015 album Lucid Dreaming. After separating with their major label in a typical money-versus-art scenario, the girls took close to two years to get the album out, eventually releasing it via their own label, à Deux Records.
The experience taught the girls a great deal about business and the importance of control and freedom. It could also be put down to maturity and the evolution of two highly creative and visually motivated musicians. “We’ve been thinking a lot about the new coming of Say Lou Lou,” says Miranda, the fringed brunette, when asked what 2017 holds for the band and what we can expect from album number two. “It’s about a direction of energy.” “Empowerment,” pipes up Elektra. “I don’t necessarily think that we weren’t empowered before: we were just younger,” continues Miranda. “When you’re young, you are in a naïve state of mind and are open to and influenced by so many different things [good and bad].”
The concept of Say Lou Lou has always been dichotomy, duality. The dark and the light, the north and the south. And, naturally, with this comes family. “Having each other while travelling day to day,” explains Elektra. “Writing and working together, support and the ability to give each other comfort and strength is at the core of what we do.” As children of separated parents, the Kilbey sisters darted between homes in Australia and Sweden, a nuance that appears in the Aussie storytelling and Scandi-pop landscapes fashioned into their sound. As such, Miranda and Elektra learnt to find power, solace and strength in each other. There’s a shared pain, pleasure and drive between the twins; what one feels, so does the other.
“Our mum more or less raised us living in Sweden. She was a single mum for a while,” says Elektra, claiming that the twins owe much of their feministic outlook and determination to their mother, Swedish musician Karin Jansson, and the women in their family. “We come from two strong lines of matriarchy. Our grandmothers and mothers issued the iron fists of the family; they were the people who would gather everyone together and give us strength, hope and confidence.” Have they noticed the difference between the two countries? “I think Sweden is on another course in terms of equality and female power, but I think everyone is getting there,” she replies. “I think the idea of a matriarch is very strong in Sweden. It definitely has been in our upbringing. Even though [our mothers and grandmothers have] all been married, they’ve always been the boss. I think that has made us like that as well, with our families and in relationships.”
There’s a fine line between strength and iciness, for any woman running their own show. It’s a trap that has caught Say Lou Lou before, particularly in their past output of naïvete-meets-mysteryluxe, which at the time, was on point with fashion’s mood. Miranda describes the former era of Say Lou Lou as “dreamy”, Elektra demonstrates this by laying back on a lounge, placing a hand to her forehead, pantomiming a fainting spell.
Fashion, too, has evolved in the same way; no longer are we celebrating vague disco waifs, but intelligent, mature women of power: the thinker, the doer, the dynamo. “In the beginning, we were really spreading ourselves too thin,” says Elektra. “We feel like we are more in control of our destiny,” Miranda says. “We’re confident and know how to get to where we want to go. Now we have the means and the luxury to analyse, indulge in ourselves, our music, art and filmmaking, and who we want to work with. Now, we’re calling the shots.” These days, instead of the muse, Say Lou Lou call themselves the mind.