Song of the Week | Aly & AJ - Take Me
Photo credit: Stephen Ringer
This week the WFMO X Music Savage Show “Song of the Week” spotlight is on the long awaited new single, “Take Me,” from sister duo Aly & AJ. The track is the first new material in ten years and marks a significant change of direction for the musicians. The decade long hiatus appears to have helped shake off the discouragement they had fallen into with the music business after a successful charge out of the gate twelve years ago following the release of their debut album, Into The Rush, which went on to become a gold record.
Aly and AJ Michalka have known success in both the music and acting world, recording hit records and acting in hit television shows (AJ stars in the ABC comedy The Goldbergs and Aly stars in the CW series iZombie) however it took a toll on the sisters and they became increasingly frustrated in the direction the recording industry was pushing their music writing style as they attracted a wider audience. Not wanting to conform to the mainstream they decided to put their career in music on hold.
With a new found sense of purpose and a new sound steeped in shimmery 80’s synth goodness and rhythmic 808 drum beats Aly & AJ have been rejuvenated and the indie-pop world is all the better for it. “Take Me” hooked me in the moment I pressed play. It feels like the song you’d expect to hear if the great teen romance comedies of our youth, like say “Pretty in Pink” or “Breakfast Club,” could be made today. They can’t of course, but if a director comes along who could be labeled John Hughes-eque one day I know who I’d like to hear in the movie’s soundtrack.
