I was a bit taken aback to hear that The Lemon Twigs had signed to 4AD—not because their single “As Long As We’re Together” isn’t something special (it most certainly is), but simply because I expected a band this young and strange to have a slightly rougher road to the big time (and as far as the “big time” goes in indie rock, 4AD is it, isn’t it?). Right now, the two D’Addario brothers that make up the group are nineteen (Brian) and seventeen (Michael) in age. Even if you combined that total to make one thirty-six-year-old, it would still feel like the work of someone a bit beyond their years.
“These Words,” the band’s new single released in conjunction with the signing, is a holy shit song. Jam-packed with little melodical details, there’s more care and thought put into these four minutes than most teenagers put into their entire senior year of high school. Taken all at once, the Stand!-y intro, the Something/Anything?-infused body, and the Tumbleweed Connection breakdown/solo should feel bloated with ideas. But like many young prodigies before them (their producer Jonathan Rado being one, for instance), The Lemon Twigs find a way to make it work—and then some. You listen to it, and then you go, “Yeah, no wonder 4AD swooped them up.”
This is the type of band that has the ability to make you feel bad about what you yourself accomplished by their age, but you shouldn’t let that happen. Ultimately, what The Lemon Twigs serve to remind us of is that age is just a number, and that what to expect from someone—whether seventeen or seventy-one—is always up for interpretation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iDlq78I6d0
