In the summer of 2015, a song drifted into my life, I’m not quite sure how, and quietly disrupted the heat of New York. It was a quiet, slow-building dream pop song called “Long Shadow” that still brings me close to tears when I listen to it today, over a year later. The women who made the song, Lacey Guthrie and Maryliz Bender, go by the name Twin Limb. They are a Louisville-based duo (now trio) whose voices complement one another like a sword and a sheath. Sometimes they come together to make a moment resonate like an eternal embrace, other times their voices draw into sharp contrast, like a weapon slicing through the air.
If you listen to the song above, part of its beauty is the fragility and unfinished edges. But edges can always be polished, and sometimes the glistening an outsider brings can be the real foundation of a budding musical act. Which is probably why Guthrie and Bender eventually brought on producer Kevin Ratterman to sharpen their crystalline harmonies and throw their psych-pop swirling into focus. With Ratterman on board, they released a debut EP called Anything Is Possible and Nothing Makes Sense late last year and Twin Limb began to pick up even more steam.
Since then, they’ve pieced together a debut album, with the mysterious title Haplo, that sounds like it is going to be one of those records that unexpectedly sweeps into 2016’s upper echelon. It will come out toward the end of October, on the 28th to be exact, through a label called Suretone Records, which looks to be a subsidiary of Interscope helmed by Geffen Records’ old president Jordan Schur.
That’s not the only big name Twin Limb have in their corner now, though. Possibly through the Louisville connection, Jim James of My Morning Jacket stumbled onto the band, and is subsequently taking them on tour with him as both his opening act and his own personal backing band. That, my friends, is more like a come up than a cosign. Either way, it’s a huge look for them.
Speaking of huge looks, today Stereogum premiered the video for “The Weather,” the debut track off Haplo. The clip, which was directed by W.G. Rickel, is right in line with their galactic pop sound, veering off into cosmic colors and close-up shots.
Yet despite the surreal imagery, all of these effects were created organically through analogue techniques, with no digital tinkering. If you compare “The Weather” to “Long Shadow,” above, you’ll hear the tightening and clarity they’ve achieved over the last year. Both are beautiful, but they serve different purposes, the way different limbs do.
This band is assuredly one to watch, check out “The Weather” video below and keep them in the top of your mind.
