Dark folk duo SYBLING (comprised of sisters Alice and Mariana Makwaia) have released the second single, “Lakehouse,” from their forthcoming EP, Strange Ways. PRESS HERE to listen and HERE to watch the haunting official video which is perfect for tomorrow’s Friday the 13th holiday. The collection will drop on October 27 (full track listing can be found below), and the pair will play a special EP release show on October 25 at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City. PRESS HERE for tickets and more information!

“Lakehouse” is a visceral story encapsulated in under three minutes of perfect harmony and vibrating tension. It draws on the duo’s background in classical music and was written by Alice as a young girl at summer camp, about a spooky dilapidated lake house she spotted from her cabin. The sisters’ voices mesh in perfect synchronicity, and the track personifies the essence of their sound — arresting, enchanting, complex and a little bit creepy.

“This Song is about introspection, about shifting identities,” said Mari. “There’s a horror story buried somewhere in the song. But it’s vague. It’s not the focal point. At summer camp, Alice spent all of her time in a dark music room, where there was only one small window that looked onto this creepy cottage in the woods. It looked haunted. Dark. Like something awful must have happened there. Surely, it had been built with good intentions. Before it became this strange, dilapidated home.”

Their evocative melodies, electric harmonies and thoughtful, poetic lyrics shine in the EP’s first single “Radio” (released late last month) as it harkens back to an era long forgotten, while also remaining firmly rooted in the present landscape of sound.

Growing up in a musical home in New York’s storied East Village, the sisters found their penchant for making music together early on. Their heart-wrenching, brooding melodies recall the lyrics of chamber music, bringing to mind the experimental folk and flush harmonies of recent acts like CocoRosie and Fleet Foxes but also, even further back to the singer-songwriters of the 1960s who themselves were influenced by Renaissance-era music. The sisters recall growing up listening to such singers, like Joan Baez, and other acoustic, Celtic and Indigenous artists.

Their different talents complement each other seamlessly, with self-professed introvert Alice drawing upon her rich inner world and her love of ghost stories to create vivid lyrics and translucent harmonies, and Mari acting as the ringleader, bringing their art into the world. On their forthcoming EP, Alice plays a prolific range of instruments—including classical piano, guitar, organ, Juno, Moog and even the glockenspiel, the delicate plunking of which can be heard throughout the project’s tight five songs. In addition to vocals, songwriting and production, Mari provides percussion, and their gifts effortlessly blend together into one beautiful, poignant sound.