Romy & Sari Lightman, who used to perform as Tasseomancy and who were an integral part of Austra‘s band for a while, have launched a new project called Lightman & Lightman. Their debut EP, Sister Smile, will be out December 6. It features contribution from TOPS, Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), and Cola.
The EP is an imagined conversation between Dutch Jewish author Etty Hillesum, who was murdered in 1943 at Auschwitz, and Jeanine Deckers (aka The Singing Nun). “We wanted to resurrect these two women as a means to examine a creative life founded in devotion,” say Romy and Sari, “while exploring our own relationship towards ideas of faith, sensuality, and defiance.”
They add: “Interwoven throughout the record is our own religious upbringing within an insular Jewish community and the rejection of these formative ideologies, including the unyielding support of Israel amidst a genocide in Gaza. These are conversations we’ve been having with each other since adolescence, so finding meaningful ways to explore these topics through this record was important to us.”
The EP’s lead single is also its opening track, “Bethlehem XL,” an astral folk song featuring the Lightman’s ethereal harmonies and Meg Duffy’s guitarwork. They call it “An introduction to the record, intended as an overture,” adding, “The narrator of the song slinks around like a Jean Rhys character, walking alone through empty streets late at night, filled with a material and spiritual longing. Feelings of interconnectedness & disassociation ebb and flow until the ending takes us to a higher, celestial place of joy and belonging.”
You can watch the surrealist video, which was written by Romy and directed by Zak Tatham, below.
Sister Smile
Bethlehem XL
Etty Part 1
Weave your name in mine
Sister Smile
back & forth machine
Give it all up
My sister, Saint Cecilia
So long, Etty Part 2