Singing duo Aly & AJ’s latest single “With Love From” dropped this morning, and the track ushers in a new era of artistry for the sisters, who are now in their 30s and experimenting with less synthesized instrumentation and moodier vocals. The song’s title will also be the name of the sisters’ upcoming album.
“We wanted to make a record that kind of dug deeper into Americana folk music, and we’re not claiming that this record is among the American greats, but we did our best in telling our story and staying true to who we are as songwriters and musicians,” said Alyson Michalka, who goes by Aly.
The soon-to-be-released album is 11 songs total, and the duo produced it at Sunset Sound, where they created their 2021 album “A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun.” Many of the co-writers from last year’s album were brought on as collaborators on the new project, Aly told PvNew.
In the chorus of the new single, the sisters repeat, “I told you that I’d change/ But I guess I never did” — the introspective lyricism is backed by heavy acoustics that infuse the track with a rawness different from their pop-fueled, electronic-heavy tracks like 2007’s “Potential Breakup Song.” One reason for this departure in style, Aly revealed, was that the sisters wanted to create records that could “easily translate into a live setting.”
“Aly and I, we were inspired by pop music, because that’s what we were listening to at the time; we felt comfortable writing pop music,” said Amanda Joy Michalka, better known to fans as AJ. “Pop is still in our DNA — that’s songwriting at its essential core. Every song, in a way, is pop. With a lot of ways songs are formatted, they’re usually in a pop format. But I think for Aly and I, bringing in a little more of a rock edge, a little more guitar, a little more analog-leaning production as opposed to electronic-leaning synths.”
While on the road for their spring headlining tour, the sisters raised over $102,000 with Propeller for non-profit organizations like The Trevor Project and To Write Love on Her Arms. Both sisters emphasized how much they value their fanbase feeling like a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community, which has been central to their activism over the years.
“I think our fans growing up — we’ve had an LGBTQ following for a while now, and I think that now that we’re back into music consistently, that fanbase has grown,” AJ said. “And I do feel our community of fans feel like they’re in a safe space.”
In September, Aly & AJ took their first special guest slot on the tour for Tony Award winner Ben Platt’s second solo album, during which an additional $10,571 was raised for several charities. “We became friends really quickly; I mean, it was kind of a no-brainer,” AJ said, before Aly interjected: “It felt like we had known each other already for years.”
The sisters are in the midst of a separate run, touring internationally for the rest of the month. As for the future, fans can expect a bit of a wait before the full “With Love From” album arrives, with its release currently scheduled for Spring 2023.
