The sisters getting set for stardom
LILY & MADELEINE: Canterbury Girls (New West) Verdict: A super overhaul ★★★★✩
MUSICIANS in search of a makeover once headed for the studios of London, New York or LA.
Now they are more likely to make a beeline for Nashville, a destination not just for country singers, but also pop acts and singer-songwriters.
The latest to visit Music City are Lily and Madeleine Jurkiewicz, two sisters from Indianapolis who have been quietly making a name for themselves with thoughtful, if slightly worthy, folk-pop.
Their fourth album, Canterbury Girls, signals a dramatic change, their stunning harmonies now backed by lush strings, drum machines, electronics and disco glitter. The songs are more candid and mature, with Lily, 21, and Madeleine, 23, singing with nuance and power.
The touchstone here is Kacey Musgraves’s Golden Hour, a record that swept all before it at this year’s Grammys by scooping four prizes, including album of the year.
Like Golden Hour, this collection was overseen by Daniel Tashian, of alternative country band The Silver Seas, and co-producer Ian Fitchuk. The pair have added a glossy sheen that should push Lily and Madeleine, who are about to announce a UK tour, into the pop mainstream.
The good news is that greater accessibility hasn’t come at the expense of lyrical punch or the duo’s homespun charm.
Opening track Self Care and Lily’s melancholy piano ballad Bruises both dig deep emotionally. And the album is named after their home-town’s Canterbury Park. You can take the girls out of Indianapolis . . .
With the duo now looking to Abba and Heart in the way they once looked to Joni Mitchell, there are some big pop moments. Super-natural Sadness combines heartache with pulsing disco beats. Pachinko Song taps into Eighties synth-pop.
And, given that Lily and Madeleine hail from Indiana, the U.S. state that gave us The Jackson 5, it’s no surprise to hear a remarkably assured Motown homage in Can’t Help The Way I Feel.
The harmonies, with Lily’s alto dovetailing with Madeleine’s higher pitch, are also superb.
The duo toured with heartland rocker John Mellencamp in 2017, and the experience gained as his backing singers has given them a new authority. The soulful sensitivity of Self Care is matched by a pristine country-pop production, while the title track is deliciously starry-eyed.
Only Analog Love — one dreamy pop number too far — feels routine.
But, given the recent chart success of fellow sister acts Haim, First Aid Kit and Ward Thomas, Lily & Madeleine have delivered a timely tour de force. LILY & Madeleine’s album is out today (lilandmad.com).