(Big Hassle Media) Indianapolis-based folk-pop duo Lily & Madeleine share their enchanting fifth studio album Nite Swim is out everywhere now. Alongside the full project, the pair share the album's title track and an accompanying emotive music video shot in black and white.
Nite Swim, Lily & Madeleine's vulnerable fifth studio album out now, is an expansive journey introducing the listener to various vignettes of the duo's lives over the past five years. Its central thesis explores vulnerability, acceptance, embracing shame and acknowledging one's feelings rather than running from them. Lily says the project dives into the feeling of "wanting to be intimate with someone but feeling like they'll reject you when they see how complicated you are inside." Over ten tracks, the listener is led through intimate scenes of Lily & Madeleine's lives, collectively as sisters and individually as artists. The foundation of the songwriting was built when the band began taking stock of their lives and who is important to them. Madeleine explains, "As we go through personal hardships, it's worth noticing the people who remain at our side and the people who disappear. What would it have been like if they stayed? Are we truly better off without them?" The album was produced by longtime friend and collaborator Shannon Hayden and other instrumentation was provided by Devon Ashley, Heidi Gluk, and Jared May.
The album's poignant title track also out today carries a calm, gradual swell that envelops the listener as Lily & Madeleine share their insecurities, fears and pain. Further offering insight into its weighty subject matter, Madeleine says the song is about, "past trauma preventing you from engaging and being vulnerable with someone. It's about fearing their judgment and being absorbed by the ultimate fear that intimacy is now forever beyond your grasp."
Its accompanying black-and-white video, directed by Austin Webster is an emotional visual shot in an old church in Southern Illinois. Similar to the layers of harmonies on the track, shots of the band are overlayed throughout as they fade in and out of view. The gripping track's delicate subject matter is reflected in the intimate, powerful visuals. Recalling the making of the video, Madeleine says, "We filmed during a record heatwave and we were incredibly sweaty and sticky by the end of the night, but it only added to the raw emotion of the performance."
Last month, the pair shared "No Part of Me," an achingly heartfelt track that prioritizes independence and self-love over an unhealthy relationship. Over smooth, orchestral production that builds as it progresses, the song's thesis can be heard in the searing line, "Feels like my love for you's just sympathy." Madeline says the honest track is about, "Falling out of love and realizing perhaps love was never really present in a relationship, and choosing yourself." There's a clear sense of relief that runs through the track. Madeleine continues that the track, "feels like when the train finally arrives at the platform, with a rush of wind, a burst of light, and a sense of relief." Though the lyrics are quite sad and straightforward, Madeline says the track is a necessary moment of liberation from negativity, adding, "the song is really meant to contain all of the joy and humor that can also be found in the closing of one chapter to usher in a new one."
The previously shared pensive track "Rolling Rock," tells the emotional story of a platonic breakup and the unique sense of loneliness that comes with it. Madeline explains the track dives into the "complicated feelings of disappointment and loss as you have to grieve all the plans you made together and acknowledge the void they're leaving in your life." Mirroring the emotional processing of this grief, the track slowly and steadily unfolds with a serene piano loop and later, a shredding electric guitar solo as cathartic relief.
Stereoboard wrote the track is a "..rich, piano-based ballad [that] shows off the American folk-pop duo's intertwining vocal harmonies and features a cathartic electric guitar solo." New York Public Radio's New Sounds also praised the duo's harmonies and the track's attention-grabbing guitar solo.
The track's accompanying video sees the duo peel back the curtain on the making of their forthcoming album. Footage behind the scenes-from the studio, to countless cups of coffee, to game nights and more unfolds as viewers can watch the album being created from personal iPhone footage. The band took footage throughout the process and wanted to do something with it, and the "Rolling Rock" video was born. Madeleine explains, "We decided to dust off these video clips and create a home-movie style compilation video that reflects the fun, messy, earnest creative process of how this album came together."
The album was made with the help of friends and family and took them across the country as they completed it, and this video is an intimate closer look. Madeleine continues, "The making of 'Nite Swim' was such a DIY group effort, recorded over the span of 3 years, in multiple cities, from professional studio settings to our parents' basement in Indiana. We hope this video gives listeners a closer look at our creative process and allows them to feel even more connected with the music."
The first official taste of the project arrived with the slow, rolling track "Windowless Bedroom," as it embraces self-discovery and uncertainty in hopes of finding a bright spot in a dark time. Lily & Madeleine's signature dreamy harmonies float in and out throughout, with an unwavering warmth and honesty. Madeline explains, "'Windowless Bedroom' is about romanticizing and finding humor in the uncertainty and inevitable disappointments of life. The metaphor of a drab, lonely bedroom with no windows becomes a canvas for one's imagination to create a more ideal reality."
In May, the band shared a re-imagined version of the fan-favorite track "Come to Me." Originally released in 2013, the track has over 50 million streams across platforms and has become an all-time fan favorite. Ten years later, Lily & Madeleine teamed up with longtime friend and creative partner Shannon Hayden to put their growth and evolution as artists and as people on full display. On this new version, producer and multi-instrumentalist Hayden combined folk elements of acoustic guitar and shimmering mandolin with edgy ambient electric guitar, distorted cello, and 80s-inspired synth to create a track that reflects the darker imagery of the song's new lyrics. Madeleine explains, "The original version of 'Come to Me' presents a promise: if everything falls apart, will you come to me? This new reimagined version revisits that promise after all this time, saying: I've been with you through it all and I'll be with you forever."
Folk-pop sisters Lily & Madeleine Jurkiewicz were born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and began songwriting at ages 15 and 17 respectively. Their debut, self-titled album arrived in 2013 and their second full-length album came out in 2014, both via Asthmatic Kitty Records. In 2016, the band shared their third album Keep It Together, and the following year toured with acclaimed folk musicians John Mellencamp, Emmylou Harris, and Carlene Carter. Plus, the duo have had their music featured on fan favorite TV shows like Parenthood, Pretty Little Liars, and on the official soundtrack of the film Promising Young Woman. The pair's celebrated fourth album Canterbury Girls was released in 2019 via New West Records and solidified the band as a promising folk band to watch.
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