MOJO PRESENTS
IN 2021, FIVE YEARS AND THREE ALBUMS INTO A PRECOCIOUS CAREER PURVEYING MULTIcoloured pop for connoisseurs, Long Island sibling duo The Lemon Twigs hit a wall. Despite abundant critical plaudits for their previous work, record labels were not exactly queuing up to release their latest batch of songs.
“We had to shop for a new deal and a few companies who’d previously expressed an interest in us rejected the album outright,” elder brother Brian D’Addario tells MOJO. “Well, one of them quite liked it, but they wanted an outside producer to modernise our sound,” he adds, eyebrows raised. “Probably the worst thing we could do…”
Beloved of Todd Rundgren, Colin Blunstone and Big Star’s Jody Stephens – all of whom they have backed in a live capacity – the D’Addario brothers’ reputation is based on a curatorial fascination for the sounds (and the haircuts, and the trousers) of a golden pop-rock past. Signing to 4AD as teenagers, their advanced-level vocal harmonies spoke of their immersion in the canon, while childhoods spent acting on TV, in film and theatre translated into presence on-stage, where they swap vocals, guitar and drum duties, younger brother Michael stealing the show with spectacular high kicks and mid-air splits.
Set on their path by 2016 album Do Hollywood, produced by Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado, the pair were soon also in demand as session players. Hired by Rado for Natalie Mering’s breakthrough Weyes Blood LP Titanic Rising, in 2019, the brothers added various instruments and backing vocals. Brian even wrote the striking string part for the album’s swooning opener, A Lot’s Gonna Change.
“My first impressions?” ponders Mering. “That Brian was the sweet, steady one and Michael was the crazy rock’n’roll guy. I’d met them in Germany around Do Hollywood, and I was impressed talking to Michael about Lou Reed. I thought, Wow – the next generation’s going to be OK!”
Everything turned out OK for that stalled fourth album, too. Finding a home at the Captured Tracks label, Everything Harmony was released last year to
