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There is an assumption, probably amongst those who don’t play themselves or listen to the wrong sort of pop music, that music is a young person’s game, something you do until everyday life kicks in…or instead of. But, surely it is obvious, only people with well-rounded and complete lives have something interesting to sing about. After all, how many more songs about girls and cars and breaking out of that small hometown do we need? Sorry Bruce.)
The Twins of Franklin, who are neither twins nor called Franklin, prove that you can do both, rock and roll, for want of a better word, and family life, motherhood and al the rest. And do them brilliantly. The reality is that life is full of complexities and juggling acts, over-work and responsibility, and only when it is do you truly experience the real joys of living. Only then do you truly have something to say. This Life, the second and latest album from this Minneapolis duo, is built on such knowledge and experience.
And if life is at its best when you are trying to make opposites attract and indeed attractive, the same can be said for music. Following their debut Low which had a more indie sensibility, This Life is a gorgeous blend of folky delicacy and a more rock and roll deftness. And it is in such blends of rootsy revelations and foot-on-the-monitor groovers, all brilliantly draped and beautifully dressed in their trademark gorgeous harmonies, that the album comes alive.
At one extreme, you have the almost titular “Look at This Life,” a shimmering slice of perfectly poised indie folk. At the other, “To The Moon” shows that they can not only rock out with the best of them but do so with a level of finesse that you rarely find in that genre. And between such extremes, their music ebbs and flows between a rock and a brilliantly harmonious place.
