The Pierces

The Pierces' 'Creation' is the least druggy drug album possibly ever recorded. Sisters Catherine and Allison set to work on their follow-up to 2011's 'You & I' soon after their breakthrough's release by experimenting with ayahuasca.

While the central and native American evocations of the drug are heard in the wild west calls of the title track and opener, the record doesn't appear to have imbibed any of the looseness and mind-fog usually associated with psychedelic influence. Instead, the duo produced a musically uncompromising, yet somehow lyrically and emotionally free, LP with the same spirituality and soul-searching as its predecessor.

The siblings' strength has always been in their intense, inviting harmonies and 'Creation' draws out rich ABBA-esque vocals, teamed with the rose-tinted wistfulness of Lana Del Rey, the west coast melodrama of Haim, and the glassy electronica of Nordic girl pop.

Continue reading: The Pierces - Creation Album Review

There was a time when New York based Sisters Catherine and Allison Pierce, aka The Pierces, almost gave up on making music together; it was Coldplay's Guy Berryman that was saddened by said rumour and instead encouraged the sisters to continue doing what they do well and gave them a little helping hand along the way. The result is this album, You & I, a laid back, well-produced offering featuring Berryman himself amongst other musicians on loan.

You & I, The Pierces' fourth full length release, opens with 'You'll Be Mine', an easy going pop track complete with subtle synths, gentle string backings and the smooth combined lead vocals of the Pierce sisters. Comparable perhaps to the less flamboyant of Kylie numbers, 'You'll Be Mine' also sounds flavours of other contemporary female vocalists such as Duffy and Sia; The Pierces' vocals also host a similar, whole-sounding strength and maturity to Clare Maguire, something that is evident too in the flexibility yet consistency of the dual female vocals throughout the album. Maintaining something of a folk edge together with a thread of the music of the likes of Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell, inspiration from The Pierces' musical upbringing, 'It Will Not Be Forgotten' sounds the same kind of steady paced tempo and easy going blend only this time with a strummed guitar also in the blend; it is with the third track, however, that The Pierces really start to show their potential. 'Love You More' opens with more of a swaggering, biting guitar introduction and in general sounds a more confident pound which then moves into a big chorus.

Continue reading: The Pierces, You & I Album Review

The Pierces
Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge
Album Review

Continue reading: The Pierces, Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge, Album Review