SOTD #201 // The Secret Sisters: 'Tennessee Me'

Decca’s latest export have already worked with Jack White on a cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Big River’. Now The Secret Sisters have teamed up with T Bone Burnett and, in ‘Tennessee Me’, created a soft, soothing song that exemplifies Laura and Lydia Rogers’ simple sound. Really, though, this is a right melange of makings – drops of molten pedal steel, that hallmark of wind-down country blues, ooze through the optimistic 50s-fied tone of a cozy vocal duo with pop sensibilities, rootsy americana authenticity and a marketable aura of girls-next-door innocence. You could even call it easy listening – but there’s just no point pinning down or picking apart these winning singers, delivering charming close harmonies on a serene and de-stressingly exemplary track.

The sisters hail from just outside Muscle Shoals, Alabama, itself subject to musical pilgrimage – but appropriately recorded ‘Tennessee Me’, along with the rest of their debut LP, back in Nashville. Produced by Dave Cobb and Burnett, who calls the pair’s recording “as close to pure as it gets”, they stayed faithful to old-time studio techniques and vintage mics, which might be why this particular two and a half minutes – an original composition by Laura Rogers – is every bit as retro as it is very fresh indeed. Not everything needs to be edgy and you don’t need to sit up to take note but this track’s floaty, fleeting charm promises much for the eponymous album (released February 21st).

This time last year The Secret Sisters had only recently been discovered, picked up at an open audition in Nashville. Lilting, light and delightful, ‘Tennessee Me’ makes it easy to hear why they didn’t remain underground for long.

The Secret Sisters: ‘Tennessee Me’