RIYL: Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, reaaaaaaally depressing music
The Chapin Sisters are Abigail and Lily Chapin, a singing and songwriting duo who come from a long line of musicians. Their father is Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter, Tom Chapin, their uncle is singer/songwriter Harry Chapin, and their grandfather is a jazz drummer. Growing up, the sisters attended a Waldorf school whose art-based education included training in orchestral music, complicated harmonies and old English folk ballads. The wealth of influences that have shaped the Chapin Sisters all come out on their second full length album, Two.
Recorded in rural New Jersey, where Abigail and Lily put together a studio, Two has the feel of a down-home night of singing around the campfire, with the warm hard cider running through your veins and your head kind of fuzzy from the drink and the glow of the flames. The record is lush, full of pristine harmonies and haunting melodies; its low-fi production gives you the feel that you’re in the room with the sisters. With minimal instrumentation, the focus is placed squarely on Abigail and Lily and there is no denying that these women are incredibly gifted singers.
There is also no denying that this is one hell of a depressing album. Everything about Two is so downtrodden and morose that it makes Springsteen’s Nebraska seem like a party album. That’s not meant as an insult, it’s just making this point: you have to be in the right frame of mind to listen to this album. And if you’re not in that frame of mind, if you’re not feeling down and ready to take a deep hard look at your soul and all that’s wrong with the world, well, a couple songs into Two, and you most certainly will be. (2010 Lake Bottom Records)
