Once upon a time…

aris-based trio, Oracle Sisters make music that is at once melodic, poetic and visionary. Working with the lightning speed afforded by the simplicity of a piano and a guitar, they construct complexity through their lyrics which stem from observations of every day life to the broader planes of symbolism. Their melodies, intertwined with harmony, always strive to uplift and surprise in the spirit of a great pop song coupled with the depth and feeling of a timeless folk song.

Born of a friendship stretching back to a childhood, almost forgotten, from the flatlands of Belgium, and later scattered between New York and Edinburgh. Lewis Lazar and Christopher Willatt stayed in touch after leaving home having grown up playing in rival and ultimately the same band. It was in these early years that their first connection as songwriters developed with Chris on the drums and vocals sometimes picking up the guitar with Lewis to pen an idea between their early shows. While pursuing their respective careers as underground cabaret singers and promoters, studying mathematics and philosophy, painting on commission, and writing as solo artists;

amidst this frenzy and whirlwind of activity they found their songwriting connection unbreakable and hard to match. When the opportunity was presented to them to move to Paris to help run a friend’s newly opened Cabaret in 2017 called ‘Le Carrousel’ (a stone’s throw away from le Moulin Rouge), they jumped on the opportunity and spent their first year writing songs daily in and amidst a blooming scene of artists in Paris that included Papooz, Polo & Pan, Antonin, Kids Return, l’impératrice, M..and a healthy group of Tarot card readers, Astrologers and soothsayers.

In this atmosphere of songwriting and social serendipity they coined the band name ‘Oracle Sisters’ and soon after met their first sister: Julia Johansen, a Finnish songwriter who had just arrived in Paris, guitar in hand, with a small part in a film and an even smaller suitcase after travelling the world over the last few years. Although they first welcomed her to be in the band due to her talent in singing harmony and how her voice blended perfectly with theirs..her secret talent on the drums soon became apparent, and thus began the creative adventure and roll of dice that is the ‘Oracle Sisters’.

After two EPs released to critical acclaim encompassing their songwriting and adventures in Paris, aptly titled Paris I, Paris II (“..there’s no hiding the ambition and ability in their songwriting” - NME “On Paris II, Oracle Sisters take their troubadour spirit to visionary heights” - Euphoria) Subsequently the band toured around the UK and Europe headlining and selling out venues in Madrid, Paris, London, Amsterdam and Berlin which led to invitations from Polo & Pan, Durand Jones and the Indications and Miles Kane who invited the band to join them on tour across some of the most famed halls in Europe and the UK. Oracle Sisters also found success on streaming platforms with over 20 million listens between Spotify and Apple Music before their debut album has hit the shelves while maintaining a radio presence across the United States, France and the UK (BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, KCRW, KEXP, Radio Nova, France Inter and US college Radio)..After the frenetic pace of these early adventures, Oracle Sisters sought for a change of scene to write and record their debut album: Hydranism.

This brings us to Hydra, an island 2 hours south of Athens facing the coast of the Péloponnèse. It’s a place where Leonard Cohen lost and then found his mind, his muse and his courage to write songs. Henry Miller stopped off here on his quest to find DH Lawrence and it’s where many artists have been equally nurtured and spit out back in to the world with the same fury that their ambitions dictated them to hide from it. For similar reasons this artist friendly haven seemed like the perfect place to make an album, and it helped that all the stars aligned. Lewis had been visiting the island for 5 years prior first arriving as a guest of a painter friend, and then again for 3 years as a guest of a collector who offered his house in exchange for drawings, watercolours or paintings and then finally as a teacher at an artist residency on the island. Chris has joined Lewis two of these years, escaping Paris to write songs together that resulted in a width, levity and imagination that can only be captured outside of the city. It was on one of these trips that they met Stephan Colloredo, a living legend on the island who was converting an old carpet factory in to a fully functioning state of the art recording studio. Over some bottles of Ouzo they agreed on a deal to make an album there one day.

In 2020 amidst the pandemic and the second confinement this opportunity presented itself and the band encamped to the island, tourist free, locked down with only the fishing boats in the harbour and the locals as the backdrop to begin their work.

Over 2 months on the island 35 songs were written and completed, 20 were recorded and 11 made the final track listing of the album. The songs reflect a world suspended in time between the future and the past, locked down in a safe place and yet painfully aware of the interconnection of that fragile moment. Knowing full well it was as much a blessing as it was a curse and that after that time

of peace taken for granted, all hell might break loose. Hydranism as a title reflects a word coined by  James Mccgovern (the Murder Captial) while playing with Lewis and Carlos O’Connell (Fontaine’s DC) in the tavernas on the island, particularly the Pirofani, singing old country and traditional Irish songs together as a trio. It summed up the spirit acknowledging a hedonistic escape inherent on the island while giving a nod to the sage atmosphere it provided to lose oneself and create unencumbered.

The recordings are built on a skeleton of live takes with the vocals and acoustic guitars in the kitchen and the drums (Cyprien Jacquet a.k.a Wend¥ Kîll) and bass (Jerome Goldet) in the old furnace room or the vocals in the ballroom and the handclaps in the shower. The album took on the shape of the Old Carpet Factory, suspended on a steep incline overlooking the Hydra harbour and the distant hills of the Peloponnese. Layering multiple pianos (between Lewis Lazar and touring band member Reni Lane): uprights, baby grands and grand pianos the sound developed with the lofty resonance inherent in the hammered harp, and harmonies followed while a sauce slow cooked on the stove. In style and tradition the meat and bones of the sound embraces the style of larger than life ballads, intimate folk songs and table thumping rousers, from there to glam rock to the toy sounds you might hear in the neon gaming district of Shibuya, Tokyo. All these sounds reflect the life and travels of the individuals in the band over the years and their openness to use whatever they encounter on their path. The saxophone solo in ‘Hot Summer’ for example came from an encounter with a flutist/saxophonist on the streets of Paris right before the album went into mixing. The churning feedback of ‘Cigale Song’ came from turning a keyboard Farfisa speaker found in the studio into a guitar amp. The reverb on ‘Peat fire morning’ came from singing down a well after a midnight live take during an early November storm. The rhythm and claps on ‘Ruby’ come from the band patting their bums in unison. In short, the band transformed what they found into key elements and essential details of their sound.

Finishing the album took a year between the release of Paris II and their EP of songs with a string quartet ‘Midnight Afternoon’ and by early 2022 it was ready to go. With cinematic adventures traveling to Morocco to make a series of upcoming music videos and extensive touring in 2022, the album is finally set to release in 2023 where we will see the songs brought to life on stage when the band tour Europe and the USA.

NOTABLE PRESS QUOTES:

“Adventurous and unique” - NME

“★★★★” - NME

“The undisputed riders of the heart” - So Young

“4.5 stars” - Euphoria

“if this is the soundtrack to a hundred years from now, maybe there’s hope for humanity just yet” - Euphoria

“enchanting dream rock soundscapes” - Daily Star

“With one listen, you’ll probably fall in love with the melodic mastery apparent in each finely crafted track” - V Magazine

“Wondrous trio Oracle Sisters offer haunting European perspectives through their distinct brand of astral indie rock” - Clash

“Their songs are an exploration of timeless narratives, JJ Cale inspired chord progressions and dazzling harmonies that force us to engage” - Yuck Magazine

“To listen to Oracle Sisters is to fall in love a thousand times in slumber, and wake up forever at peace with the night” - So Young

“the trio’s ethereal rock transports you away from reality into their world of heartbreak, sensuality and everything in between” - TMRW Magazine

“Peace, serenity, tranquility, whatever you want to call it; this is arguably part of the charm with Oracle Sisters.” - The Rodeo