Beyond the five years of output twin sisters Romy and Sari Lightman crafted as Tasseomancy in the mid-’10s, you may know the synth- and folk-pop innovators for their work playing in Austra, or any number of other studio and live appearances—as individuals or as a pair—alongside artists like TOPS or Yves Jarvis. Recently, though, the duo reconvened to record their first material under the legal-esque moniker Lightman & Lightman, with the songs from their forthcoming debut EP Sister Smile matching the locked-in collaboration and left-of-center concepts of fellow neo-folksters FINOM. The latest cut, “Wave Your Name in Mine,” is no different, with a modernized take on a vintage pop aesthetic.
“I wanted to capture the passion, desperation, even the romantic infatuation to converse with and be seen by the divine,” the duo shares in a joint statement about the track, which was recorded in their garage with Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy on guitar and Riley Fleck of TOPS and Jessica Pratt’s backing band on drums, with mixing handled by Phil Hartunian. “A love song to God through the eyes of Etty and Jeanine—our main heroines of the album—with the devotional sincerity of a ’60s girl group. I wrote this one much later than the rest of the album. I was walking through a public garden, staring at the roses, thinking of Dantes’ Paradise, and thought, ‘What would a pop song about divine love plucked from a secular sphere sound like? What would Etty and Jeanine, in the face of so much violence and an ongoing genocide, want to say about their devotion that ascends beyond ideology, belief, or disbelief?’”
Zak Tatham’s video for the track leans into this spiritual subject matter, while also being a bit of an Annihilation situation. “We asked our friend, a contemporary dancer, to play the classic role of ‘the divine source on the ceiling,’ holding our shared and interconnected humanity,” the duo explains.
Check that out below.
