Twin Sister is a band that hails from Long Island. Much like every other band that comes out in the indie world, they were throw immediately into the hype machine on the strength of their two EPs from 2010 Color Your Life and Dreaming With Vampire Kids. While both of these EPs are quite good, they are also only EPs. Any group of people who’ve played together more than five times can make an EP. It’s a much grander statement to make an album which requires a focused narrative and the distillation of a sound.

On their first album In Heaven, Twin Sister attack this challenge and make an exceedingly grand statement. Recording during a winter in the Hamptons, the album merges a number of different sounds into one whole package. There are remnants of My Favorite, the long-lived Long Island electro-pop band, disco rhythms, post-punk and simple pop style. Anchoring the entire affair is singer Andrea Estella. Her soft, wispy singing style bring a distinct intimacy to this affair. When doing some research on the band, I came across a lot of people who were making comparisons between Twin Sister and Beach House. I think that these are misplaced. Yes, Victoria Legrand and Estella have voices that can carry your mind to distant lands, the travels are quite different.

Beach House has always had a very hypnotic, dramatic quality to it that allows you to exit your body. Legrand’s voice has never been a soft one; it is one that commands attention and ushers the affair along. Twin Sister lack this authoritative nature in Estella. Rather, Twin Sister’s songs have an intimacy, drawing you further within yourself. Their music feels very close to you thanks to the quieter, more restrained vocal presence of Estella. It is, in fact, that intimacy that makes this album so strong.

As I noted above, In Heaven was recorded in a house in The Hamptons on Long Island. Having listened to a couple albums that were made in houses recently (read: Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House and River Monks’s Jovials), they give off a very distinct vibe. They always want to entertain, but they are never too loud. The sounds are intricate, and the vocals feel much closer than they do in the studio, regardless of what they are actually singing about. All of these things hold well for In Heaven, making their time in the Hamptons very productive.

Having listened to this album on both speakers as well as headphones, I prefer the headphone experience a little bit more as the delicacy of Estella’s voice comes through and is more affecting. The closeness that I speak about above comes through a lot more clearly, especially on songs like “Stop” that has harmonies between Estella and guitarist Eric Cardona. The beauty of this arrangement is clear over headphones and makes the song that much stronger. Over speakers, this would be a perfect CD to pop into your car when you’re driving at night. “Bad Street” with its uptempo drum line and smooth, clean bass line would allow you to move through the early hours of the night. The slow, distant drums of “Luna’s Theme” would be beautiful to hear at 3 AM (easily, the best time to drive at ever) as you drive along a desolate street under the orange glare of the sodium lights. Estella would provide comfort as you move swiftly through the darkness.

While the sound of this album does bounce around a lot, I think that it’s rather consistent, finding the sweet spot between disco, electro-pop, indie pop, and post-punk. There are a couple of tricks thrown in like the Spaghetti Western-styled “Gene Ciampi” and the flamenco-tinged “Spain.” Even in these efforts, it doesn’t sound like a band that is stepping outside of itself. The jagged guitars, smooth basslines, effective yet subtle drumming, and their innate danceability keep the songs within the band’s general pop/electro-based style.

Overall, this is a very strong debut from a band that continues to build on the promise of their initial EPs. I think that the way that they merge all of these different genres into their sound makes In Heaven a really compelling listen that can be enjoyed in a number of different situations. A complaint could be made about the fact that their album doesn’t have a fully consistent sound, but at least as a music nerd, I like bands that can keep a solid anchor and move out around that anchor. I think this is something that Twin Sister can do really well and it shows here on In Heaven. This is an album that will really excite a few people (like myself), really intrigue many more, and disappoint no one.

I’m posting a video for the third track from the album “Bad Street.” If this album has a straight dancefloor track, this would be the one. It has, definitely, the best groove on the album.