We have added a few photos from Aly & AJ‘s photoshoot for “Interview Magazine“, to which they also gave the interview, in which they talked about their latest EP called “Ten Years” and the new sound of their music. So, you can read the full article here and go to the photogallery to see the photos for this magazine.
After ten years spent focusing on acting projects, the sisters Michalka have released an EP, appropriately titled Ten Years. The four-song EP, led by single “Take Me,” is a floaty wisp of confectionary dream-pop. The siblings call their music “nostalgic,” but it also smacks of the now, with an ’80s synth style re-popularized by producers like Dev Hynes and Ariel Rechtshaid.
In adulthood, the Michalkas have much more control over their work (the production of Ten Years was self-funded). Though they have always written their own songs, these are the tracks with which outside hands have interfered the least. “I think the most important thing is that we’ve really grown from being these 16- and 14-year-old songwriters that were writing about experiences that we [hadn’t had yet], like having a boyfriend or losing someone important in your life,” says Aly. “We were just writing those assuming what you would feel like if that happened to you.”
Despite successful acting careers, the press cycle around Ten Years has focused heavily on Aly and AJ’s early iteration. I ask if it is frustrating to keep discussing their teenage selves, to be asked to play old songs. “We have to do that for the fans, obviously…” says AJ to Interview Magazine. “I want them to play some of their music from the very beginning. So I think at the end of the day, we’re pretty great with it”.
The penultimate song of the EP, “Promises,” is a wistful breakup track that elucidates the paranoia of infidelity. Aly and AJ explained that the song has a secondary meaning: in the past they’ve promised new music to fans, only to delay its release. But there’s a line that stands out: “All this is is another big break, is another big break.” There’s a pause before they sing “of promises,” making the line about well, broken promises.
