It’s somewhat paradoxical that such electric music as Sister Wives’ is great at making you feel like you’ve planted your feet on the mossy earth and let in feelings from thousands of years past – but, things like that are never simple.
And neither is succinctly describing Sister Wives’ sound: a single genre descriptor does the band a disservice, as there’s a lot more going on here than just a tribute to 70s acid-folk acts or another spin on occult rock. And their debut record “Y Gawres” does explore Welsh and English mythology – but don’t mistake the record for one solely placed in prehistory. There are tracks that deal with definitively modern issues, and the album charts a course from tradition to modernity: old folk standards are mixed in with driving drums and bass, and jagged, post-punk-inspired guitar.
Guitarist Liv Willars and Rose Love about the band’s unique, intriguing sound. Liv: “I was in another band in London and moved up to Sheffield, and just wanted to start something here because it’s got such a great scene. And [singer and keyboardist] Donna was also in a punk band, so I asked her if she knew anyone that wanted to do something. She said, ‘I do – but I want to do something that isn’t a punk band, something different with organs and keys and synths and so on.’
“We had a couple of practices just me and her, but it just felt like the sound needed a lot more. Donna was friends with Rose, so she brought her in on bass and I was friends with Lisa, who plays drums. And it all kind of came from there.
“We’ve never said anything like, ‘we want to be a band that sounds like this, this is our main influence’ – we all like a real mixture of music, so it’s kind of, put it all together and see what we kind of come up with. “We made a conscious decision not to have one person fronting because I think a lot of the bands we were drawn towards are sort of ‘collectives’ – each individual is interesting, bringing something in, rather than it just being a single person playing with a backing band.”
‘From House to House’; the new single from Sister Wives’ long-form record will be out on the Libertino record label on 28/10/22.
The Fat Angel Sings 