Sister. - "Soft Spot"

Soft Spot, the debut EP from Bed-Stuy’s Sister., is made up of three delicate songs that attempt to navigate a world that’s spiraling out of control, while simultaneously expounding on the feelings that chaos evokes.  The duo of Hannah Pruzinsky and Ceci Sturman construct their music and lyrics in a way that’s vulnerable and undeniably raw, holding very little back, and translating their emotions perfectly. They’re able to pinpoint the perfect guitar tones and vocal timbre to convey a range of melancholic feelings, including grief, anxiety, confusion, and fear.

The tracks on Soft Spot are soft and folky, channeling both the intimacy of bedroom pop and something grander with more rich arrangements. Starting with the climate crisis focused “Natural Disaster,” Pruzinsky and Sturman demonstrate that they have the type of commanding voices that work well in a stripped-down setting, as they air their concerns about their own futures in a rapidly crumbling global climate. They introduce more fleshed-out arrangements about midway through the song with taut strings and a trembling piano that sticks around for the second track, “Pretended.” While ruminating on a brighter past, the duo laments the current bleak state of the world, tacitly acknowledging their lack of control over it and the inward focus that accompanies isolation against a backdrop of twinkling guitars. The percussion is soft and steady across all three tracks but picks up steam on the EP’s closer, “Cash Only.” The song gradually unfolds, eventually introducing a swirl of instrumentation that then retreats for the final isolated lyric, “I’ll sleep with the lights on if you ask me.”

I somehow didn’t realize that New Zealand folk troubadour Nadia Reid released her third LP, Out Of My Province, earlier this year, and it pairs nicely with a full listen of Soft Spot either before or afterward. Sister. deliver a similar kind of sad-folk that’s driven by highly emotive vocals that are perfectly paired with the kind of expressive instrumentation that’ll gently pull at your heartstrings.

Stream the EP on Spotify and check out Sister. on Bandcamp. Keep up with the duo by following them on Instagram.