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Twin Brother previews songs from its next album amid a hectic live week

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Twin Brother performs at Velveteen Rabbit on May 15.
Spencer Burton

During last Thursday’s Twin Brother set at Velveteen Rabbit, Adam Grill’s warm vocals soared above every shimmering note as the band premiered one of many new songs for the bar’s bustling crowd. The band, which has been recording since January, emerged with a burst of live activity—five shows in one week—and Grill (guitar/vocals), brothers Sonny (guitar/vocals) and Niko Saipale (bass), and Brian Scanlan (drums) have returned with force and determination.

“It’s spacey,” Grill says, referring to the band’s new set of tunes. But even material from 2011 Twin Brother album Best Frenzy sounds slightly different these days. “Different Hue” is richer and darker, with even more celestial vibrations and textures. Intergalactic and Caribbean tones weave through the newest songs, expanding on Twin Brother’s psychedelic form with dramatic, bellowing drums; jazzy, dancing bass lines and heavily distorted guitars. During the band’s fourth show at Artifice, Sonny Saipale’s thrashing guitar hooks moved from venomous to light with effects similar to a steel drum.

Each song is an experience, shiny, viscous, even hallucinatory. The new album won’t be out until the fall, Grill predicts, but if its wayward direction is any indication, Twin Brother is revving its engines for a winning takeoff.

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