The Chapin Sisters: Two
The Chapin Sisters
Two
(Lake Bottom Records )
Two, their second, self-released album, features the smooth vocals of Abigail and Lily Chapin and comes with songs that go down the road of an obsessive and neurotic un-returned love. The album’s all about getting to be with that perfect other but not being able to – and other such joys of yearning for the forbidden fruit.
The album starts off with a harmony that invites you to partake in their search for “Sweet Light.” Ă‚Â Harmonizing, they enchant and give you a prelude to the journey that lies ahead. “If I can feel the things you feel, why can’t I make you want me?” This track sets the overlying tone for the album with its hook.
“Paradise,” my favorite piece on the album, has a beautiful piano underscore with heavy lyrics.Ă‚Â That contrasting quality makes this song, about the blinding instinct to please, so addictive. Ă‚Â “Digging a Hole” takes us into a new dimension of the album’s theme though, as it’s a very trippy track and possibly is the song on the album that encapsulates it’s theme at best.Ă‚Â “Palm Tree” and “Boo Hoo” have a more commercial sound, like somethingĂ‚Â that mightĂ‚Â be on theĂ‚Â score of a sitcom.
“Birds in my Garden” is my other favorite track.Ă‚Â The words are so honest and transparent that you can’t help but relate. Ă‚Â Also, the track has a beautiful “release” moment, and you realize that your dip into the pensive has been completed.Ă‚Â I personally find this track misplaced on the album. It’s possible that the song could have been intentionally placed after the aforementioned to create a visual of a relapse, but I find that it disturbs the narration of the album’s theme, somehow.
While there’s a good balance of dark and light on this album, I do find myself devouring the darker tunes.Ă‚Â Vocally, it’s easy to say that these two own their music. It feels though, that this album just touches the surface and that the Chapin Sisters are headed even deeper, and I, for one, cannot wait.
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