If you are unfamiliar with Twin Temple‘s unique brand of music, remedy that posthaste. The husband-and-wife duo Alexandra and Zachary James essentially pioneered the genre of “satanic doo-wop,” which, yes, is not only possible, but in fact fucking shreds. Their most recent full-length Doomed Lovers is exactly in line with their previous work, a richly gothic take on the classic music of 1950s America, twisting nostalgic, cinematic tracks into a lurid tale of love and death.
The title track “Doomed Lovers” is a nice microcosm of Twin Temple’s work as a whole, and the kind of thing to expect on the album: heavy orchestration, bluesy guitar, and, of course, Alexandra’s stunning vocals. Much of Twin Temple’s oeuvre is a vehicle for Alexandra’s voice, with good reason—She’s got incredible pipes reminiscent of Amy Winehouse, soulful and emotive while referencing that golden age tone. I can almost picture “Doomed Lovers” as a diegetic track in a David Lynch film; that seedy, twisted take on ’50s optimism that infects so much of his work is very present here and throughout the record.
“Possessed” was likely my favorite track on Doomed Lovers, just over two minutes of hooky crooning absolutely stuffed full with metaphors of toxic, all-consuming love. “Haunt Me” and “Love You To Death” are beyond catchy, perfect facsimiles of the highly orchestral radio hits of the late ’50s and early ’60s, timeless love songs perverted by the James’ devout Satanist sensibility. “Haunt Me” in particular brought a bit more rockabilly to the table with the twangy guitar lines and gospel backing vocals.
There are plenty of influences on Doomed Lovers, but none more so than Patsy Cline and Roy Orbison. As the millennial child of a very old baby boomer, this is right up my alley. Listening to the album felt like the fucked-up adult version of all the things I used to hear in the car with my dad. Awesome. I like how Twin Temple are committed to replicating the song structure and instrumentation of true doo-wop and Americana, but are equally committed to putting their unique spin on things, primarily through the lyrics. The contrast between the relatively recognizable sock-hop instrumentation and high-gothic lyrics is the core of Twin Temple, and utterly bewitching to witness. It’s simply fun and novel to hear music that is straight out of a period piece and would be at home in a modern Halloween flick at the same time.
Doomed Lovers is gorgeously produced. It’s a difficult feat to maintain a plausible air of retro allure, to make contemporary music sound convincingly old-school without sacrificing production quality. Somehow, Twin Temple have pulled this off without the end product being too shiny, likely thanks to the legendary Shooter Jennings being behind the board. “Haunt Me,” for example, has its fair share of blown-out vocals, but it works; Alexandra is nearly wailing by the end, and the gritty tone serves the emotional aspect of the track well.
The eternal question with any very niche act like this is—Can the band actually support a full album? It’s a bit of a mixed bag in Twin Temple’s case; I think Doomed Lovers was on the short side, and could have used another more upbeat track to balance things out. Despite being just under a half hour long, there were still a few tracks that sounded too similar, too close to each other, and that’s kind of an occupational hazard when you’re working within self-imposed narrow confines. Twin Temple, to me, are a genre experiment and a live-show type of artist, as I think their ritualistic, sexy, bloody performances add a lot to the general atmosphere. That doesn’t mean Doomed Lovers is bad. It isn’t. It’s a very strong entry into their discography, full of charming songs that a lot of people will like. The catch is that you have to like this sort of throwback posturing to begin with.
Doomed Lovers is out now via Pentagrammaton.
