Twins Megan & Liz are best known for their YouTube stardom, their pop single that cracked the Top 50, and for winning Macy's iHeartRadio Rising Star contest in 2012. But what the general public doesn't know is that they weren't meant to be pop stars, they were meant to be country crossover singer/songwriters. Taylor Swift was a big influence for the girls, and they even got to go to her show through Oprah introducing their videos to Swift. But instead of following Swift back into pop, they've gone the opposite direction, and have been exploring country music for the past few years.
Their newest EP, Deux, is their second country EP. If you take specific songs and match them up in quality to those of their first country EP Simple Life, I think Simple Life would win. Who could forget incredible tracks like "Grave," "Switch Hearts" and "A Better Me"? But as a whole, Deux is better. The songs are more cohesive, and the EP works better as a unit than Simple Life ever did.
"Drive" kicks off the EP on a high note. A demo of the song was on SoundCloud for a while, and it quickly became a favorite among fans. The lyrical content of the song is about letting go of fears, problems and not thinking about anything and just driving. It's a easy song to connect to and a lovely song to visualize. The uptempo pop country track, that features a prominent fiddle (as does quite a bit of the record), was produced by Mike Shimshack, the man who produced "That Ghost" and two other songs on the record. One of the better produced songs, this song seems absolutely fit for country radio.
The next two tracks are songs that fans had the chance to hear before the EP was released, "Big Kids" in an acoustic setting at Song Suffragettes and in an American Rag Session, and "White T-Shirt" in an acoustic demo that was named one of the 10 best demos of 2015 by this blog. "Big Kids" recently got its own, incredibly relatable and hilarious music video and is receiving airplay on Radio Disney Country. The song has a funky sound, following the metro-bro kind of trend, except with mandolin and fiddle added. It's a song obviously aimed towards their fan base: teenagers when they became fans of the girls, but are now figuring out how to be young adults. The twins provide a connection between themselves and their fans, admitting that they're "a little bit fine but a little bit falling apart." "White T-Shirt," to be honest, was better in demo form. The song is overproduced and the pop beat underneath the beautiful country instrumentals removes some of the purity of the original song. But the song still tells a beautiful story, and despite the slight downfalls production-wise, the song is worth a listen.
"Drive" kicks off the EP on a high note. A demo of the song was on SoundCloud for a while, and it quickly became a favorite among fans. The lyrical content of the song is about letting go of fears, problems and not thinking about anything and just driving. It's a easy song to connect to and a lovely song to visualize. The uptempo pop country track, that features a prominent fiddle (as does quite a bit of the record), was produced by Mike Shimshack, the man who produced "That Ghost" and two other songs on the record. One of the better produced songs, this song seems absolutely fit for country radio.
The next two tracks are songs that fans had the chance to hear before the EP was released, "Big Kids" in an acoustic setting at Song Suffragettes and in an American Rag Session, and "White T-Shirt" in an acoustic demo that was named one of the 10 best demos of 2015 by this blog. "Big Kids" recently got its own, incredibly relatable and hilarious music video and is receiving airplay on Radio Disney Country. The song has a funky sound, following the metro-bro kind of trend, except with mandolin and fiddle added. It's a song obviously aimed towards their fan base: teenagers when they became fans of the girls, but are now figuring out how to be young adults. The twins provide a connection between themselves and their fans, admitting that they're "a little bit fine but a little bit falling apart." "White T-Shirt," to be honest, was better in demo form. The song is overproduced and the pop beat underneath the beautiful country instrumentals removes some of the purity of the original song. But the song still tells a beautiful story, and despite the slight downfalls production-wise, the song is worth a listen.
All pictures from meganandliz.com
"He's Not Him" and "That Ghost" are interestingly placed on the tracklist, since they represent two completely different eras of the Megan & Liz sound. "He's Not Him" has a more throwback pop rock sound, and is a song that could have been at home on This Time or even Bad For Me. "That Ghost," however, as said in my previous review of the song, is the epitome of the new Megan & Liz sound. It's a comparison that is obvious, and it is incredibly symbolic that both of these songs are on this EP, show sing their absolute transition to their new sound.
The EP closes on the two strongest tracks. "Just a Name" is the best song on the EP, and the emotional "Home is You" follows in a close second. The former track is about hearing the name of an ex- boyfriend from a while ago and not feeling anything. Since it has quickly become a fan favorite, the twins posted a 'behind the song' video for this song on YouTube, including them explaining the writing process and playing an early demo. The production is killer, and the variation between the verses and the choruses is a specific highlight. The song is an example of the Megan & Liz sound and pop country at its best.
The EP closes on the two strongest tracks. "Just a Name" is the best song on the EP, and the emotional "Home is You" follows in a close second. The former track is about hearing the name of an ex- boyfriend from a while ago and not feeling anything. Since it has quickly become a fan favorite, the twins posted a 'behind the song' video for this song on YouTube, including them explaining the writing process and playing an early demo. The production is killer, and the variation between the verses and the choruses is a specific highlight. The song is an example of the Megan & Liz sound and pop country at its best.
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"Home is You" closes the record, and is the second ballad, and the first song that Megan & Liz have released about their relationship as sisters and twins. It mentions the title of the EP in the song when they sing, "One will do, but we're better off as two, cause home isn't a place, home is you." It almost approaches wedding song territory, even though it was written about a sisterly relationship again. The production shines again, but in a very different way than it shines in "Just A Name." It's the most country song on the EP; and recalls the sound that the girls developed in last year's "All The Way." The production is refreshingly simplistic, letting the vocals and the beautiful harmonies be the focus of the track.
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Simple Life was Megan & Liz's experiment. Their record label had closed, and they had more freedom than they had ever had before in terms of where they wanted to go with their music. They chose country, and they succeeded in making an excellent first country EP. But this EP is them finding their place in country mix. It's not pure country, but it is the right sound for this duo. They perfectly mix their old pop sound with their new experimental country sound, and create an EP that was truly worth the wait.
Best tracks: Drive, That Ghost, Just A Name, Home Is You
Throwaway tracks: White T-Shirt
Overall rating: 4 ½ crowns
Best tracks: Drive, That Ghost, Just A Name, Home Is You
Throwaway tracks: White T-Shirt
Overall rating: 4 ½ crowns
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