Meet the most deceptively named group since the three-piece known as Ben Folds Five—a trio of singers who’ve known each other from nearly the time they were born, and who harmonize with just as much familiarity. (Plus, a backing timekeeper who used to drum in punk bands makes four.) Hillary Watson was lifelong family friends with Noelle and Renee Coughlin (twins, the band’s legit pair, though Watson is a twin herself), and recall childhood kitchen jams with their parents. They reunited musically as they edged into adulthood, fusing together their classically trained voices and songwriting ideas about life’s vulnerabilities, anxieties and hopes. They began singing each other’s lyrics, folding in Gaelic, theatrical and choral sensibilities into a melodic folk-pop sound. This act and a gently breezy, cloud-speckled day outdoors–now that’s a fine pairing.
Biography by Jason Markusoff