November 30, 2018

Aly & AJ Are Back Again. And They’re Good. Like “Potential-Break-Up Song” Good.

These cow belles aren’t playing around in the mud anymore.

Aly & AJ/Twitter

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

This week: Ten Years (Deluxe) by Aly & AJ (Aly & AJ Music LLC, 2018)

Why we’re into it: The girls outshine their studio tracks with two newly released live recordings and a brand new studio recording.

It’s been a hot minute since Aly & AJ stormed the hearts of tweens across America with their angsty 2007 pop hit “Potential Breakup Song,” but now, along with a brand new song and two live recordings of their previously released singles, the sisters are back and carving out a bright musical future for themselves.

Ten Years, released in summer 2017, was one of the best returns to music that any former teen stars—let’s not forget Cow Belles—could have made. But as of November 30, they rereleased their EP in a deluxe edition that contains a brand new studio single, as well as live recordings from the final show in Chicago that closed their 2018 tour. With eight songs full of their 80’s inspired synth and guitar heavy tracks, there’s plenty to fall madly in love with.

“Take Me,” “Promises,” “I Know,” and “The Distance,” have been around for over a year now, but upon a re-listen as part of the release, they feel as fresh and as vibrant as if you are hearing them for the first time. “Good Love,” released last summer is the love-is-love anthem that doesn’t overdo it and mirrors the girls outspoken political views.

Along with the old songs, there is also a new single, “With You“, that employs a deliciously sounding synth under their vocals and quickly beats out the other tracks as one of the album’s highlights. But no other track owns the top spot except their live recording of “Promises.” The live track is exciting, with their voices bestowing a type of wistfulness that gives the music a freshness that is rare in a studio recording.

But what really makes Aly & AJ stand out is their ability to mature both musically and lyrically alongside their fans, the new ones and those who have been with them since their Disney days. “All this is, is another mistake / Is another mistake to check off my list,” they sing as the crowd of Thalia Hall joins in.

An accomplished balance of maturity and playfulness is what makes this album today’s find. The rarity of musicians who outperform their studio recordings is a gem. So savor these eight tracks while you spend this weekend with the girls.

Honorable mentions: Clean Bandit’s newest orchestral-pop album What Is Love, Rita Ora’s long awaited perfect-pop masterpiece Phoenix, and Dounia’s soulful album Avant Garde. 

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate