Words by Art Jefferson

Twin Limb’s sound has been described as everything ranging from dream pop, post-punk and dark folk, on down to psychedelic. Whilst many of those elements can indeed be found in their music, there is something ‘other’ about what they create. Self-releasing their debut EP Anything Is Possible And Nothing Makes Sense back in late 2015, their original sound took a re-shaping with the adding of third member Kevin Ratterman (the band previously only consisted of Maryliz Bender and Lacey Guthrie). The record was packed with sweet melodies gliding head-on with hazy, gorgeous and sometimes haunting instrumentation. In a way, this was the perfect set-up to their full-length Haplo, which is the band’s mastering of their elevating, gumbo mixture of genres.

Beginning the LP with ‘Long Shadow’, Twin Limb immediately showcase the beefing up of their smokey, floating style as an incorporated sound of Americana marries with atmospheric indie pop, polished and glistening. ‘The Weather’ plays with mellow minimalism as running guitar riffs and the angelic vocals of Bender and Guthrie fill the space. Whilst cuts like ‘Red Sun’ and ‘Sutro Baths’ lean closer to Twin Limb’s debut EP, a concentrated sound of echoing instrumentation spawning a ghostly drift, it is tracks like ‘Gold From Teeth’ which truly captures the brilliance of the band as a post-punk underlay aid a revivalist, gothic gospel fronting, musically apocalyptic throughout. Whilst ‘Workhorse’ slows down the tempo for the breather, a bit of punch is added again with ‘Aine’, though the use of strings is the embedded melodica for a contrasting serenity. ‘Blood Orange’ is Twin Limb walking on the dark side again, an eerie melancholy, quite sparse but impacting. Rounding out the LP are the songs ‘The Monolith’ and ‘LUCA’, both slowing down the pace, with the latter cut almost providing a sort of strengthening message for the battle with the chorus including the message “everything is going to be alright”.

If Twin Limb never recorded another album (which hopefully won’t be the case), the trio can rest easy knowing that they have scored a winning kick with Haplo. The moody LP is just that, emotive with an underlining beauty that is the lining of thread throughout the record. Proving that they can take a near bare palette and create something that is long-standing with grace and sheer artistry, Twin Limb may easily have an album placed in the running for one the best of the 2016.

Haplo is out now on Suretone Records.