MonaLisa Twins

Album review: MonaLisa Twins – ‘When We’re Together’

The MonaLisa Twins, an Indie/60’s backbeat pop duo, released their full-length album “When We’re Together” and have already made some visually creative music videos for a few tracks on the album. Originally from Austria, the MonaLisa Twins’ distinctive musical style is drawn from a mixture of 60’s Pop, 60’s Rock n’Roll and Beat Music. They even touch upon British invasion music, while drawing from elements of Folk, Latin and Psychedelic.

With apparent influences from The (Early) Beatles, The Easy Beats, Donovan, Bob Dylan, and Simon & Garfunkel, the 19-year-old duo consists of Mona Wagner (vocals, guitar, and blues harp) and Lisa Wagner (vocals, guitar, and ukulele). The talented duo can easily be compared to artists like Jake Bugg, The Belle Brigade, She & Him, and The Last Shadow.

In addition to playing a plethora of live shows in a variety of venues and festivals across Continental Europe, the duo has been reaching broader audiences across the globe. Not only is their music being played on Austrian radio stations, but they are also gaining attention in a variety of music markets with airplay and radio/tv interviews in both the USA and UK.

The MonaLisa Twins’ album “When We’re Together” really showcases the duos’ lovely harmonies and whimsical dynamic. The most intriguing aspect of the album is the delivery in the re-emergence of 60’s Pop/Rock music tradition backed seamlessly by skilled instrumental production. Songs like “When We’re Together” (the title song of the same titled album) and “This Boy Is Mine,” both are fun 60’s Rock n’ Roll/Pop jams about falling in love. These two songs and tracks like “One More Time” all seem to particularly draw inspiration from The Beatles back in their earlier years.

Slower tempo type songs like “Dream,” and “The Wide Wide Land” marvelously explore the heavenly quality to the duo’s tight harmonies. Specifically, “The Wide Wide Land” is exceptionally beautiful not only in the tranquilizing vocal delivery, but in the story told within in the song. It’s such a lovely tribute to the twins’ grandmother, who is battling Alzheimers.

“I Don’t Know Birds That Well” is a cute and joyfully motivating song that really comes together nicely with the ukulele playing in the background and the girls’ sweet sounding vocals. Their final track “Nothing Is In Vain” intricately captures sounds of psychedelic music and offers a cool and wispy harmonica section. The song is also quite buoyant in sound as the overall production paints images of the sizzling sun shining on a warm summer day.

As a whole, the Mona Lisa Twins’ “When We’re Together” album is truly an enjoyable and delightful listen. The girls are bound to garner more attention as they continue to playfully experiment with 60’s Pop sound. Here is the link to stream and/or purchase their album: http://monalisatwins.bandcamp.com/

Tracklisting:

01. When We’re Together

02. Won’t You Listen Now

03. This Boy Is Mine

04. I Don’t Know Birds That Well

05. Dreams

06. One More Time

07. June

08. The Wide, Wide Land

09. All About Falling In Love

10. I Wanna Kiss You

11. Nothing Is In Vain

Post Author: Berenice Famili

My name is Berenice Famili and I am an entertainment journalist with a primary focus on music. My musical taste is diversely unique as it starts off with country, turns a pivotal corner at rap and settles comfortably at pop.