Sister duo Ivy and Mabel Windred-Wornes first began busking at the ages of 8 and 11 respectively, and released their debut EP, Home, three years later. By their mid-twenties they’d already issued their fourth album, 2024’s Marlinchen in the Snow, their ever-growing catalog of darkly alluring, ethereal folk songs built around the duo’s haunting harmonies. Recalling the hushed intimacy of Sufjan Stevens on “Treading Water” (a breakup song that focuses on the good times) and the peaceful harmonizing of Simon & Garfunkel and The Milk Carton Kids on “Miranda” (about a jealous, titular fictional character), their cover of Jackson Browne’s “These Days” reveals another strong musical influence. And while their songs may shy away from the bombast of Florence + the Machine, the duo’s cover of Florence’s “Big God” speaks to Welch’s classic, pseudo-Gothic aesthetic influence on the sisters. For a sound that is so often celestial—whether it be in the fragile, atmospheric “Wonderful Oblivion,” the chamber pop of “Clean Cut,” or the piano and string-laden “Pockets of Stones”—lyrically, the sisters are concerned with earthly issues. “Clean Cut” is about moving on from a bad love affair, “Middle of Your Mess” addresses the way women sometimes seek to undermine rather than support each other, “Lies” is about the negative impacts of social media on mental health, and “If You Know Me” (featuring Sam Bentley from The Paper Kites) is about navigating communication in the early stages of a relationship.