Let me first say that I love finding new artists. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're not. But each contributes something to the musical tapestry woven together in the back of my mind. The Kin has managed to establish a foothold in my mind.
Brothers Isaac and Thorry Koren, though Australian by birth, now find themselves based in New York. They made a splash over the summer, opening shows for Rod Stewart as he toured the Western U.S. and Canada, managing to sell enough albums to enter Billboard's Heatseekers Album Chart at #37 - an amazing feat considering it wasn't released to the public yet and that's just with sales at their performances.
So how'd they do it? Through a mix of great arrangements and some simply amazing harmonies. The harmonies are what sold me. They have a gift for close harmonies that sent chills up my spine. I can hardly wait to see where they go from here in their next albums...
For their album THE UPside, they worked with a legendary producer Jack Douglas, who helped John Lennon, Aerosmith, and The Who over the years. As Isaac said "He helped us translate ideas we had no clue how to express and made it so we forgot we were making a record." The result was an album recorded all along the West Coast - Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. Douglas made sure those soaring melodies and great songwriting came to the surface.
In addition to the vocals, both brothers contributed different instruments to the project. Isaac played piano and Thorry added guitars, piano, and bass. The album will be available on October 6 and the brothers are not waiting for success to come to them - they're touring the Northeast with Rusted Root and then heading down the East Coast, ending their tour on October 10 at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City. They're heading home!
As I said earlier, it's those harmonies that really sold me. From the time that the brothers hit their stride in the first track - "Waterbreaks" - they had me. Add to that a bit of rock ballad guitar, the steady beat of a drum, and you have a song that found its way into my brain and wouldn't let go.
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