Stand by, as US pop sensations Aly & AJ slam onto the music scene this autumn with their debut UK single Potential Breakup Song, released on Hollywood Records via the Angel Music Group on October 1st.In a world of conveyor belt, faceless teen pop acts, Aly & AJ stand proud, two sassy girls who really do have something to say and a collection of cracking pop tunes to back up their talk.Aly & AJ are sisters Alyson Reane Aly Michalka (18) and Amanda Joy AJ Michalka (16). The LA born sisters were raised in Seattle, where they started playing piano at the age of six. They both picked up the guitar four years ago and started to write songs just six months after that.Since then they have sold 800,000 copies of their album Into The Rush in the US and hit No.2 on the Billboard chart with their singleDo You Believe In Magic.Debut UK single Potential Breakup Song is an effervescent electro pop smash that is already proving to be a massive hit in the US, racing up the iTunes Top Ten singles chart. A witty and well written song, the track features the gloriously self-referential couplet: This is our potential breakup song, our album needs just one, and has already been critically acclaimed by the UK’s music press as one of the pop records of 2007.
The single will be followed by album Insomniatic on October 22nd, an eclectic mix of twelve sparkling pop songs.
Each track was written or co-written by the girls themselves, seeing the duo develop into a songwriting force to be reckoned with. The music is an adventurous blend of folky guitars, pumped up dance beats and electronic synthesizer noises.
Stand out tracks include the explosive power chords of Bullseye and the sleek and soaring Like Whoa.
The sisters themselves are bright, articulate and interesting. We can be very different, but we’re similar in many ways, too, says AJ, who admits to being the more outgoing, active and neurotic.
The whole blood harmony thing comes naturally to us. There is an amazing connection when you’re sisters, a real chemistry.
Aly and AJ have become active in issues such as passing laws to get predators off the streets and becoming spokeswomen for Samsung’s Hope for Education which provides deserving schools with over $2 million in Samsung technology and Microsoft software. It’s unlikely that the duo could work any harder. They’ve just completed a feature film version of MTV’s My Super Sweet 1 series, in which the sisters play arch enemies. The movie will hit UK screens later this year.
But music remains front and centre for the duo. As Aly says, Music is our heart, our soul, and our roots. It’s who we really are. We just want to be real, genuine, express the way we honestly feel, and let that come out in our music.