After COVID foiled the tour behind their debut album, the London pop chameleons return with an EP that lurks in the shadowy spaces of claustrophobia, existential dread, and the sadness of a long pandemic winter.
In March 2020, the London pop chameleons Sorry were about to embark on a series of shows in support of their debut record, 925: a headlining tour across the UK, SXSW showcases, festival dates. You know what happens next. One year later, the band’s new Twixtustwain EP offers assurance that while the world went on pause, Sorry have only gotten weirder. Sorry’s core songwriting duo, Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen, first met as schoolmates. Initially, the friendship was contentious but eventually softened and the pair started a project, initially known as Fish. Later renamed Sorry, the band expanded and added band members Lincoln Barrett (drums), Campbell Baum (multi-instrumentalist), and Marco Pini (synths).
While 925 blended post-punk, pop, and jazz, the five-song Twixtustwain evokes the experimental collage of Sorry’s first two mixtapes, 2017’s Home Demo/ns vol. I and the following year’s Home Demo/ns vol. II. Though Lorenz and O’Bryen frequently cite prolific Philadelphia weirdo Alex G as an inspiration, another city of brotherly love band, Spirit of the Beehive, feels fitting as well. Like Spirit, Sorry flit between ideas, rarely sticking to a clear blueprint. Overall, however, Twixtustwain lurks in the shadowy spaces of claustrophobia, existential dread, and the sadness of a long pandemic winter. On the downcast opening duet, “Don’t Be Scared,” O’Bryen takes the lead, mumbling reassurances to a lover until he is abruptly cut off by a confession from Lorenz: “I’m at odds with myself/So many questions, even more doubts.” “Cigarette Packet,” on the other hand, channels its romantic confusion into bright chaos, with cowbell, synths, and babydoll vocal distortion all merging into a sort of hyperpop-lite.
With its shapeshifting songs and lyrical uncertainty, Twistustwain feels elusive. On the knotty “Things To Hold Onto,” Lorenz asks for a few crumbs of affection to cling to even if it makes an imminent separation more painful in the long run. The disjointed, glitchy “Separate” explores physical and emotional distances. Most of the EP’s lyrics are grounded in plainspoken observations, but Lorenz’s imagery is particularly poetic here: “Feel like I’m the salt and you’re the water spinning round,” she sing-speaks in her distinctive, detached monotone.
Twixtustwain’s closing track, “Favourite,” is the EP’s most restrained. Evoking the dreamy sprawl of Galaxie 500 with hints of weirdness buried in the mix, Sorry’s version of a love song is straightforward and intimate, exploring the complicated dynamic of wanting to be desired while feeling insecure. “I couldn’t explain/Or put into words/All of the pain/That we’ve maintained/And put in a box,” Lorenz murmurs as O’Bryen repeats her words in the background. It’s a curiously quiet way to conclude an eclectic collection, but it shows Sorry’s determination to explore every avenue.
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