The Lemon Twigs' Michael and Brian D'Addario break down their latest album Look for Your Mind! – from vinyl-first thinking and studio collaborations to a spontaneous poem from their father that shaped the closing track.
The Lemon Twigs know exactly what they’re doing. The sibling rock duo from Long Island, New York, released their debut album Do Hollywood a decade ago, and from the beginning, Michael and Brian D’Addario have had a hand in every element of the sonic machine that is The Lemon Twigs. They are songwriters, vocalists, producers and multi-instrumentalists. They are also the first to proudly name The Beatles and The Beach Boys as their influences, before critics could call out a copycat sound. Refreshing and rare in an industry that thrives on comparison.
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In their latest album, Look for Your Mind!, the D’Addario brothers navigate nostalgia, surrealism, and the all-too-real socio-political climate of today in a way that feels familiar, yet elevated. The signature ’60s and ’70s sound is right there, but there is also so much more to sink your teeth into. Catching them on the road as they tour through the United States, Michael and Brian broke down the album for us.
Winding it back, the D’Addario brothers mixed things up a little when approaching this album, bringing Eva Chambers of Tchotchke, along with Danny Ayala and Reza Matin, into the studio with them. While these are not new collaborations – The Lemon Twigs and Tchotchke have collaborated previously, and Ayala and Matin are their current touring bandmates – Michael can’t deny the impact it had on the creative process.
He reveals that, “You’re hearing everything in real time. Instead of being conservative…sometimes you can go either way. Sometimes you’ll lay down a drum track that’s too busy, because you have no idea really what’s going to go on it. And then sometimes you can do a drum track that’s not lively enough, because you’re being too conservative about it. So it allows you to arrange in a more accurate, informed way.”
From our conversation, it’s clear The Lemon Twigs are not afraid to expand their palette, but they do so thoughtfully, avoiding getting stuck in a sunk cost mindset. Their home studio allows them the freedom to go down creative rabbit holes, and there is a constant process of trial and error, picking and choosing what works, neither rejecting tradition nor being constrained by it.
In a natural alignment with their ’60s and ’70s influences, The Lemon Twigs prioritise how their music lives and breathes on vinyl. This is evident on Look for Your Mind! as sweeping ballad ‘Mean To Me’ transitions to ‘Bring You Down’, a sun-soaked and dynamic track.
Explaining the duo’s approach, Michael candidly expresses how modern technology allows them to play within the parameters of old-school vinyl conventions. “We think of it in a technical way…there’s more distortion towards the middle of the record. But the thing about that, which is convenient, there are these technical considerations that are in place that you can ignore now, but you also don’t have to, you know, if you want to acknowledge them,” he says.
And then there’s the closing track on the record, ‘Your True Enemy’. A maximalist, theatrical and slightly unhinged 3 minutes and 49 seconds that leaves you unsure which way is up – and it’s all by design. It’s a track that both Michael and Brian are particularly proud of, and unsurprisingly, the controlled chaos came from an uninhibited moment in the studio.
Michael recalls his father, Ronnie D’Addario, walking in during a session: “He started saying this poem that he had heard 40 years ago when he was touring with Tommy Makem. And it’s just spontaneous. I love that, though.” Michael and Brian then reworked the recorded spoken word, played around with backward sound and remodulated it, resulting in a gradual, but deeply intense sonic unravelling.
What ties Look for Your Mind! together is that constant push and pull. The Lemon Twigs seem to thrive in between control and spontaneity, nostalgia and distortion, tradition and invention. It’s a record that feels carefully constructed, but never overworked, always leaving space for something a little unhinged to slip through.
Look For Your Mind! is out now via Civilians / Captured Tracks.
