They’re back!
There were two sisters – Aly Michalka and AJ Michalka – who sung their way to fame in the mid-2000s and called themselves Aly & AJ. And in 2007, their song “Potential Breakup Song” was named Time‘s 9th best song of the year, before there was no more new music being released.. until just recently!
Aly & AJ just debuted their latest single “Take Me”, but clearly a lot has changed in the last decade. Both Aly and AJ kickstarted their acting careers, Aly, 28 is now married to Stephen Ringer, whereas AJ, now 26, is on the sitcom The Goldbergs.
In an interview with Elle, the duo were pressed on what brought them back to music. “My husband encouraged us to come back to music,” Aly said. “He saw us singing and writing round the house so he encouraged us to get back out there and write music and perform…[Finally] we just said, ‘Okay, let’s give this one last go.'”
On their more mature sound, Aly explained, “The music we were writing then was based on fictional relationships. We were thirteen and fifteen, we were writing with zero experience. Now that I’m married, and we’ve each had many relationships and heartbreaks, we’re coming at songwriting at a much different way.”
AJ also spilled the beans on what it was like to be a child star. “I don’t think we were [in the] mega stardom field, but I do know that our music had done well enough that Aly and I were recognised on a day-to-day basis, especially if we were together.”
She continued, “You deal with constant scrutiny, and people who know your business too intimately who shouldn’t. As a kid, it can be overwhelming and frightening. Now that we’re older, I feel safer. I know how to handle it better. Had we been bigger at that age, it can be really freaky and possibly damaging.
“I’m glad we didn’t experience Taylor Swift -level fame because I don’t know how that would work,” mentioned the 26-year-old.
“Thankfully we had each other; I can’t imagine it as a solo artist. [Even] growing up with super-normal parents and a solid team around us, being under the microscope is definitely a weird way to grow up.”
“Take Me” is part of a four-song EP that is slated to be released in 2018. Congratulations on your comeback!
Meanwhile, re-watch the music video for “Potential Breakup Song” and feel all sorts of nostalgia..
