Lily & Madeleine - Lily & Madeleine

Lily & Madeleine - ST

My first contact with Lily & Madeleine was their short and sweet Tiny Desk Concert for NPR. Their instrumentation was pretty minimalistic and after the first few words, I knew why. Those lovely vocal harmonies don´t really need anything more than themselves. After the three songs they played, Amazon was the place to go and get what I had to own. Gladly their self-titled debut doesn´t disappoint one bit. But there is one thing that distinguishes the performance which I have come to love from their approach on their recording.

I guess for the most musicians it is pretty natural: You play a blend of modern vocal centered folk music, so what you need to add for variation is different instrumentation. The sisters Lily and Madeleine Jurkiewicz followed this thought for their debut record or maybe, they were advised to do so. What you get is mostly the same blend of two honey sweet voices singing songs about love, relationship and even abstract matters backed by piano and guitar with occasional drums, cello and bass added to the mixture. For many this might be great, and the original formula might come off as something redundant, not even worth listening to for over five tracks. But this is where not just the formulaic quality but the depth and power of these elements must be taken into account: The voices singing these songs with heartfelt lyrics packed with metaphors are just perfect on their own and things added to this mixture risk a fine balance ushered by the mindset of two young musicians speaking their heart. That it not to say that the instrumentation when differing from keys and guitar throws the songs off or worsens them, but it feels like this could have been a much more stripped debut album with all the charm coming from the knowledge of musicians starting a long and hopefully lasting career. 

But still, what you get is beautiful puristic music. “Sounds Like Somewhere” kicks off on the right mood of a certain kind of loss and nostalgia, taking the listener to the evoked imaginary places. If one thing, the opener just begs you to go out for a walk, in the rain, sun or snow and complement the mental movement with some actual one. Following track “Devil We Know” might serve as the best example of the duo elevating much of their contemporaries and showing that they should not be categorized as a mere pop act or bar musicians talking about their everyday life. “And the flowers will forgive your anger and your barking” sounds like something Maynard James Keenan could have written and yet two angels deliver these words to you. But not everything around them is melancholy with an down tempo stricken gaze; tracks like “Nothing But Time” and especially “I´ve Got Freedom” have an airy, Sunday morning sunshine feeling and showcase something much more uplifting. And with every song and every repeated spin, the thing that becomes apparent is the vocal ability of the two sisters which makes this experience lasting. When blending together, the fine nuances of each one still shine through and at times they will form a perfect synchronised entity to get under your skin. Not in any other way should lyrics such as “How can it be that nothings yours and nothings mine” like on “Paradise” be delivered and short moments of these short songs like this might just stick with you forever. 

Overall these 42 minutes are sure to sway the listener looking for something to dream on. The vocals and the imaginary let you get a notion of what it might mean to be detached and yet amalgamated with someone or your surroundings. What the two Jurkiewicz sisters deliver on their debut stands out for its honesty and clarity and the only thing that might let you have to notion of repetition are the varied instruments, not unfitting but seeming added for the sake of having them around. I would like to hear what Lily & Madeleine are up to next and especially hope to catch them live in the setup like the Tiny Desk Concert: Two musicians blending together their voices and instruments and thus letting your imagination become entranced by small poetry set in motion. 

7/10