Little Sister back on track with new album ‘for everyone’

If you’re planning a tour, don’t forget us down in this little corner of the Eastern Cape, writes Stevie Godson

DEBBI and Jenni Lonman, the enduring Gauteng-based duo who have been making their own brand of music over the last 20 years and enjoying chart success with a string of hits, are back in the limelight with their new four-track extended play album, What If….

Featuring a few interesting musical diversions from their past hits, which include four number 1s – Dear Abbie (One Night of Passion), Peace on Earth, Mystery of Life, and Love is a Weapon – the EP breaks some new ground for the sisters.

But perhaps the biggest surprise is that What If . . ., the album’s first single, is sung by Debbi, the band’s lead guitarist. It’s the first time she has ever taken over lead vocals on any track.

Debbi tells the Daily Dispatch in an exclusive interview how that came about:

“I think of What If . . . as a spoken thought, a reflection,” she explains. “Jenni didn’t feel close to it, and felt she couldn’t do much for the song vocally, so I ended up singing the main vocals for the first time ever in my recording career . . . and I’m pleased to say it’s been well received on radio as the first single.”

The album, which was almost a year in the making from concept to release, had its beginnings, conventionally enough, in the studio – but no music was involved at the time!

Instead of guitars, the Pretoria-born sisters, who have shared the bill with Bryan Adams, UB40, Wigfield, Indecent Obsession, Patrizio and Wynona Judd and were part of the festivities at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration, were wielding paintbrushes.

“While repainting my studio and making random mosaic bits and pieces, the creative bubble inside burst,” says Debbi. “Suddenly I felt like I had something to say and I wanted to say it through our music. Jenni was helping me with the painting and we had painted the inside of the bookshelves different colours. I said to her, ‘that’s my kind of bite’ . . . and the title of the first song was born.”

The brushes were hurriedly discarded and, in Debbi’s words, “out came the guitar and some programming tools and the words started coming together”.

It was just the breakthrough the girls needed . . . especially after the torrid time they had had a year earlier when Jenni suffered from vocal strain during a demo take with Mark Beling (ex-Mean Mister Mustard and now frontman for The Mark Beling Band), who produced the new album.

An ear, nose and throat specialist discovered Jenni had a vocal blister.

“This literally halted the process of recording for a year,” recalls Debbi, adding that it took Jenni that year and some vocal rehabilitation to get over the nerves caused by what she had experienced and to get vocally fit enough to go back into the studio.

“In retrospect it was a good thing because the creative flow wasn’t natural at that stage. We were even looking at reviving some old demos, so I think the wait turned out to be good for us.

“Once we started last December, all sorts of ideas started to flood in. One morning, for instance, I sat and wrote in about an hour. I had been addicted to the TV series Nashville and I wanted something with a bit of a country edge and a strong threepart harmony.

“It was the same with Time: I was sitting watching a clock tick by and thinking how fast time flies. I felt like a method writer, like I was calling on long-lost memories to piece together parts of me, even parts of other people’s stories I had heard.”

The result is an album that ranges from pop to poignancy. The more I listen to the tracks, the more nuances I notice and the better they get – and they were pretty good to start with!

On the face of it, My Kind of Bite might seem to be just a simple but catchy ditty but on repeated listens, I couldn’t help appreciating the fact it’s so darned accomplished – right up to and including the twist in the tale.

Then there’s the country-inspired Lucky Charm, the slightly philosophical Time, and the poignantly beautiful title track, What If . . . .

“Everyone asks who What If . . . was written for and I say ‘everyone’. That’s the truth,” says Debbi, who also hints at what she calls “exciting plans” for next year.

I’m guessing those plans will include a tour to promote what I believe is some of their best work ever.

It would be great to see them pop into East London for a quick stop-over on their way to larger centres where they obviously have a bigger fan base.

In the meantime, Little Sister are hoping their new mini-album will add to the collection of gold discs and multiple honours they’ve amassed over the years, including Best New Artist and Best Rock Artist awards.

They have recorded five CDs, shot nine music videos, and toured all over South Africa in the past.

Current projects include a recent Little Sister reunion concert, A Tribute to Simon and Garfunkel, and they’re working with an upand-coming youngster, Bianca Blanc, in a show called Gone Not Forgotten, paying tribute to some of the greatest musicians who have passed away – from Buddy Holly through to Leonard Cohen.

“We have also been in studio recording a song called Too Young To Die that we’ll be releasing next year to complement that show,” says Debbi.

“Jenni also spends time as a vocal coach, evaluating and guiding young children who want to sing in different capacities – some just for fun and others who want to be involved more seriously. She helps youngsters to develop stage presence and prepares them for Eisteddfods. She even has a group who work on their karaoke skills.”

In April, the pair also became involved with the start-up of a live music venue called Otway’s, which is part of the Zwartkop Country Club where, Debbi says, “I spend half my life, mostly playing golf”.

Otway’s is owned by champion golfer and TV pundit Dale Hayes and is named after his late father.

“Not only have we hosted great artists there like Loki Rothman, Mathys Roets and Cindy Alter, to name a few, but we also run regular acoustic evenings to showcase some of the amazing students we both get to work with in our private capacities. Otway’s is a great platform, and hopefully we’ll even get to create some new stars.”

The new album has been released on all major digital platforms.

“Deezer, Google Play, Amazon and Apple Music are the big ones, even Spotify,” says Debbi, “and we carry the hard copy at gigs, so next year is looking very exciting.”