You & I

Alabama-rooted sisters Catherine and Allison Pierce are experiencing the “big in Japan” curse that so many American artists struggle with (in their case, they're big in Britain). Just as the sisters were about to throw in the towel after their third record was undeservedly neglected, Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman asked the duo to tour with his band. Next thing you know, he’s working with the sisters in the studio, and You and I is hitting the U.K. charts. The sisters’ charming, folkified songs and glowing harmonies get a polishing here, with the calliopes and sitars of their previous record vanishing in favor of more focused arrangements with guitars, drums, and occasional strings, and much of the dark driven out. They handle this more commercial flavor as well as they did their rough-edged, woodsy wackiness, and some of the melodies are just deadly. “Kissing You Goodbye” feels like The Mamas & The Papas’ “California Dreaming” on steroids, and the modest U.K. hit “Glorious” is a curiously uplifting anthem. (It was written by New York artist James Levy, with whom Allison appears on the beautiful James Levy & The Blood Red Rose album Pray to Be Free.)