At an L.A. bookstore in early February, Aly & AJ Michalka reconnected with their childhood guitar teacher.
“We played him some tracks and sent him some of the recordings,” AJ recalls to Marie Claire over Zoom. “He was like, ‘You guys are back to where Aly & AJ started,’ which only someone like that would really know.”
Aly and AJ, now 35 and 33, respectively, were touched to hear that from someone who knew them over two decades ago, especially because he echoed what the sisters felt writing their forthcoming album Silver Deliverer, a ‘60s and ‘70s Laurel Canyon-inspired project. “There’s a beauty to this record because it feels like we’re almost leaning back into the child-like wonder we had when we started, and that’s really hard to recapture,” AJ says.
Silver Deliverer marks the sister act’s third LP since they reemerged as indie artists in 2017 (they left the Disney-backed Hollywood Records in 2010). The pair felt reinvigorated while making this album because they were able to call back to the “essence” of their early days while still embracing their maturity—after years of being told by industry execs they’d aged out of music.
“[The lead single] ‘What It Feels Like’ is a depiction of embracing womanhood and aging and all of the positives and negatives that come with it, especially the societal pressure we put on ourselves to be a certain way. A song like that definitely speaks to where we’re at in our life and in our career,” Aly shares.
Specifically, they note that Aly welcoming her son during the recording process—she even went into labor at the studio—and AJ becoming an aunt, proved to be creatively fruitful. “Our childhood is so tied up in our identity…With this record, it felt like we were cutting that tie,” Aly says. “Not being ashamed of the past, but acknowledging that we are in a new place in our life, our roles in our band have changed over the years, and our roles now as young women have greatly changed.”
With Silver Deliverer coming this spring, Aly & AJ opened up about the country queens they used to listen to on their way to school, which ‘90s artist they consider their teen idol, and the bands they currently can’t get enough of.
Aly: Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. That was on all the time—in the car, in the house, in the backyard. Our parents were Beach Boys fans, especially our dad, and we’re California kids. I think the music felt like it was speaking to us and the environment we lived in.
We were also super inspired by the harmonies.
We played a lot of Heart, of course, them being sisters. Our mom was a big Heart fan, so we always listened to their music growing up. And then we had the amazing opportunity to be able to write with Nancy Wilson, who became a mentor to us over the years and is someone still very much in our inner circle.
AJ: We lived in Seattle for seven years, and that’s really when we got into country. Our mom would play a lot of country music and gospel on the way to school before being homeschooled and going back to California. A lot of our influence there is Martina McBride, Deana Carter, Shania Twain, all the female singer-songwriters who defined pop culture in the country space. That became a very big part of our musical toolkit.
I would also add The Police. We listened to a lot of Sting growing up.
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