Indie-folk pair Penny & Sparrow released their latest album, Lefty on the 31st of January via I Love You / Thirty Tigers. The duo, boasting over 109 million streams on Spotify alone, is composed of Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke. Their extensive discography over the last decade has captured the attention of publications like NPR Music, Wonderland Magazine, CLASH Magazine, Under The Radar Magazine, Atwood Magazine, SentireAscoltare and Beats Per Minute, among others. They’ve opened for the likes of Josh Ritter, The Shouting Matches (a side project by Bon Iver’s frontman, Justin Vernon), The Wood Brothers, Drew Holcomb and Johnnyswim. Additionally, Penny & Sparrow have showcased their soundscape throughout the USA including California, Washington and New Jersey, while they’ve performed at the Ryman in Nashville, Tennessee, Paramount Theater and Stubb’s Outdoor in Austin, Texas. Internationally, they’ve played in London, Paris, Berlin, Dublin and Glasgow.
They both had an early introduction to music as children. Andy’s parents sang regularly around his childhood home, and he participated in multiple church and school choirs. Kyle’s father often listened to Dallas radio station 92.5 KZPS, which sparked his love for music, and he started playing drums at 12-years-old. Based in Austin, Texas, Penny & Sparrow formed during their college years. The former college roommates began covering songs together after Kyle learnt how to play the guitar. The pair then decided to begin writing music, which then progressed into live performances at college parties and fundraisers.
Inspired by an eclectic mix of influences, from Simon & Garfunkel to Slim Whitman, The Swell Season, Bon Iver, and even the compositions of Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim, the pair craft a distinct sonic ecosystem that contains ethereal indie folk, raw balladry, tender chamber pop and experimental introspective storytelling, reminiscent of (but certainly not bound to) the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Father John Misty and The Lumineers. The sonic landscape of Lefty meanders through the above as well as venturing into brooding avant-garde electronica of the ilk of James Blake, Sufjan Stevens, Father John Misty, and The Lumineers.
Lefty was etched into being in a friend’s garden shed commandeered by the duo. The album is suitably sprawling and dreamy, yet raw and earnest; a 20-track odyssey through styles and moods and ideas. Steered by Penny & Sparrow’s harmonies that glimmer and ache, intimate lyrical passages and reverb-soaked instrumentation, the album flows between electronic and acoustic with tender ease. There are acoustic reflections and intimate balladry (‘Mattering Ram’, ‘Alphabet’, ‘Country’), airy champer pop, (‘My Lover Was A Great Man’) and to glitchy electro/ambient (‘Even – Keeled’, ‘Sea Foam’, ‘Idea Baby’), and everything in between. The album’s synergetic splendor is not easy to articulate and is better experienced with a full and careful listen.
Lefty Album Tracklist:
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