The Secret Sisters have released their new record Saturn Return today. We review the record and reveal our stand-out tracks.
The Secret Sisters (Alabama sibling duo Laura and Lydia Rogers) released today their fourth album – Saturn Return – that is a magical, celestial-tinged creation which feels like the real culmination of the hard work and less glamorous side of their artist’s life that they map out on ‘Nowhere, Baby.’ The record, produced by eponymous singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile (who also co-produced You Don’t Own Me Anymore), has evidently challenged the pair, pushing their boundaries vocally and lyrically. The result is a spectacular array of songs, covering ground from abuse to intimacy to hardship – tenderly and artfully told. The album is indicative of a new era for the sisters, who underwent extreme change and emotional heartache over the making of this record – becoming mothers, losing their grandmothers – the result is a reflective record – both internally and externally on the state of the world.
Named after the astrological occurrence that takes place approximately every 29 ½ years, the album heralds the arrival of a new era for Laura and Lydia—both of whom experienced extreme change and transformation during the making of the record. Grappling with the grief of losing both grandmothers, while also both becoming first-time mothers, the sisters reflect on their world view, relationships and own mortality through the album’s ten songs.
Album opener ‘Silver’ sets the tone for the record. There is something gloriously nostalgic in the sound of the record – synonymous with the content in a celebration of age, telling the story of a woman realising she is going grey – celebrating her hair as a ‘crown’. It is hard to pinpoint the various influences clearly at play in the track – with almost baroquial sounds mixed with sixties hippie styles. The result feels like an ode to the past, melding seamlessly together. ‘Late Bloomer’ that follows it up has a similarly interwoven sound. The track opens with a luxuriantly blues-tinged piano intro, before building into a laid-back sixties feeling sound reminiscent of Springfield’s heyday. Here, the harmonies are moved to the backing vocal and the sisters sing solo – as Carlile encouraged them to do to challenge themselves – the result is stunning.
‘Cabin’ heralds a more quietly furious direction in the record, a song directed against all that is wrong in the world, with a spotlight on abuse. ‘It does not feel like home, The one who did the damage carries on.’ ‘It makes me want to burn this cabin down… burn it to the ground.’ The Rogers’ signature harmonies come back in full force in this track, beautifully harmonious almost as a direct response to the message of the track in their reaction against this discord – written at the time of Brett Kavanaugh’s court hearings. By contrast, ‘Hand Over My Heart’ delves into a more nostalgic pop leaning sensibility to the Sisters sound, describing falling in love again after having endured toxic relationships. ‘The one that came before you was unkind / And walked into the dark side of my mind.’ ‘I made him hand over my heart.’ Not shying away from hard topics, ‘Fair’ is stripped back to allow the almost painful and intimate lyrics tell their story – accompanied by a simple acoustic melody and the sisters’ harmonies. The song tells the tale of memories of a friend’s abusive childhood – ‘her daddy and his temper‘ and the painful discrepancy between home lives ‘never knew home could be anything but fine.‘ Carlile’s production is so delicate here, allowing the sisters to tell their story and the result is heart-wrenchingly vulnerable. This trio of tracks really highlight the new era of the Sisters music – none more so than ‘Hand Over My Heart’ written on the day that Laura learnt she was pregnant, delving into hard and raw topics, that Carlile has so artfully handled in the production, in the guitar riffs, keyboard waterfalls and muted drum beats.
Seamlessly transitioning into ‘Tin Can Angel’ offers a waltzing celestial-tinged ballad, a cry for strength – ‘You call to the maker, the giver, the taker… Send me down a tin can angel.’ The beauty is in the nuances and subtlety in the track, and the ebb and flow of production and instrumentation is stunning here. Their Muscle Shoals origins in Alabama come through strongly here, both in the content and sound of the track, giving it an edge.
‘Nowhere Baby’ by contrast is a take on the life of a travelling musician. ‘I made some memories, some friends, some memories to hold.’ It is a reflection on their own lives, questioning where they are really heading while travelling around, ‘I’m not a robot, I’m a human.. I struggle admitting when to walk away.‘ It is a questioning, searching track on their own purpose and is a stand out moment on the record where the sisters seem truly comfortable weaving in and out between solo and harmony vocals. ‘Hold You Dear’ is another simpler track, with the barebones of the track as solely a piano and harmony arrangement, with a memorable string interlude that is simply stunning. The track encompasses love in is many forms, and the connections that bind one human to another – and feels both intimate and vulnerable.
‘Water Witch’ by contrast is the most celestially ethereal moment on the album and Carlile brings in her signature vocal, adding to the theme of female empowerment, a song of sirens and oceans and power. There is something immense about the track, hammered home in the final verse where the reverb is brought in a few extra notches. ‘Bewitched by invisible forces, to lead you away from the light.’ The album ends with ‘Healer in the Sky’ where Laura’s vocal takes the lead singing of acceptance of mortality. ‘I lived my life and I’ve found the answer’ – it is a reflective and optimistic note, made all the more poignant through the delicate use of strings in accompaniment.
This is an album rife with complexity in its content and lyrics. Carlile has challenged them vocally at just the right point of personal tension in their lives, resulting in an album whose magic lies in its moments of tension. The work is sublime and by far their greatest work to date.
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Editor’s Picks
Nowhere, Baby
Hold You Dear
Fair
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