Like truth, beauty resides in simplicity. When it manifests itself, it doesn’t require elaborate arguments or proofs; you can’t debate someone into apprehending it. It’s apparent and all it requires is appreciation, or perhaps even love. Such are the songs of Lily & Madeleine. They present themselves without excessive adornment, confident that even a single listening will captivate you. They present no unnecessary barriers to entry into their world, and in their restraint lies an invitation.
Understandably, when their debut EP, The Weight of the Globe, came out earlier this year, much was made of the fact that Lily and Madeleine Jurkiewicz are teenagers: Madeleine is eighteen and her sister is sixteen. Surely, that’s important given the impressive talent on display. On that release as well as on Lily & Madeleine, their debut album, these two young women sing with a spare elegance that’s all the more breathtaking for seeming to come to them so naturally. Both Lily and Madeleine can sing powerfully, but you will find no show-off pyrotechnics here. They are not afraid of fragility or vulnerability. As with all the best family bands, their harmonies sound effortless, two distinct expressions of the same idea or emotion. It’s a style of harmony that is so subtle that it could almost be singing in unison, so entwined are the voices. It’s a sound that only blood relations can deliver. Lily and Madeleine treat their voices as instruments that are in service to their songs. They are vehicles of feeling and meaning. They do what they need to do to reach your heart. No more, no less.
RIYL First Aid Kit, Lucy Rose
Tracklisting
- Sounds Like Somewhere
- Devil We Know
- Nothing But Time
- Spirited Away
- Disappearing Heart
- And Tonight
- I've Got Freedom
- Come To Me
- Lost Upon The Sea
- Goodbye To Anyone
- Paradise
- You Got Out