What: Comma-defying childhood friends
Where: UK
Why: Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth first started making music together at the age of 13 and by the time their songs were shared with the world, the English pair had developed a close bond that made them seem like kindred spirits to the twins from The Shining.
That their music could be described as nursery-rhyme eerie freak-folk from down the rabbit hole (they called it "experimental sludge pop") only reinforced the aesthetic. Their debut album, I, Gemini, was unique and interesting but largely unsatisfying, a curio of youthful inventiveness. Live, they played Patty Cake for percussion and wore their hair over their faces.
Now, two years on from their first album, at the age of 19, Walton and Hollingworth are making good on their promise with an reinvigorated sound that features collaborative efforts with visionary PC Music producer Sophie, Faris Badwan of The Horrors and David Wrench (who mixed Caribou's Our Love).
On the two songs they've put out so far, Let's Eat Grandma have thrown themselves into feverish pop music that draws from synthesiser textures, acoustic loops, deep, rolling basslines and a more direct melodic approach, as heard on the macroscopic Falling Into Me. On Hot Pink, jarring low-end from Sophie matched with the Norwich girls' English accents results in a playful and invigorating piece of music about "the misconceptions of femininity and masculinity".
Walton and Hollingworth are no longer hiding in cryptic codes or behind reams of hair. Their forthcoming album I'm All Ears, out on June 29th, puts them front and centre, holding the light.
You have to hear this
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays
It's never easy to predict where Ruban Nielson will take his UMO project next. The New Zealander's last album, Multi-Love, was a sprightly collection of psych-pop about a married couple's shared infatuation with another. New album Sex & Food dropped yesterday with styles that range from rip-roaring rock to oddball ballads. Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays is the album's lilting yacht-rock track and an immediate highlight. Listen here.
Melts – Skyward
Featuring members of defunct Irish bands The North Sea, Ghost Estates, The Things and The Mighty Stef, Melts are a new five-piece trading in psych-leaning rock music. Skyward, the band's first single, revels in a hypnotically repeating post-punk guitar and synth line and Eoin Kenny's projected vocals. Old school in a great way. The band play Upstairs in Whelan's on April 20th. Listen here.
