‍The Lemon Twigs – the highly acclaimed New York City rock band duo fronted by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario – are making a comeback with their new single “A Dream Is All I Know.” The song’s wistful lyrics float over its lush instrumentals, creating a certain nostalgic quality that runs through the entire track. In the band’s latest music video, the brothers sing about ephemerality while strumming glittering electric guitars among swirling clouds. 

While their last album was a sober reflection on life’s darker moments, their latest single offers a taste of what’s to come as the band ventures forth into a new sonic and thematic landscape. Their forthcoming project, titled A Dream Is All We Know, dips into the realm of fantasy, beckoning us towards the shimmering possibilities that exist beyond the scope of our current reality. Here, the D’Addario brothers of The Lemon Twigs discuss their creative process, their musical influences, and their new music video ahead of their album’s May 3rd release.

‍When you start a creative project like A Dream Is All We Know, does it consume you or do you strike a balance between your life and your art? Do your music and your personal life feel separate or very much attached?

They’re definitely very much attached. Most of my friends that I see, I see when we’re working on music. The touring group are all very close, and we see the most of each other when we’re playing shows. Plus, both Michael and I’s girlfriends are in the same band (Tchotchke) and we’ve recorded a lot with them as producers. Plus, both of our parents are very musical, so we’re always talking and playing music with them.

‍You describe your song “A Dream Is All I Know” as being about the impermanence and dreamlike nature of our day-to-day lives. What do you think is the importance of those experiences in our daily lives? Why are dreamlike experiences and impermanence valuable to the human experience?

Dreamlike experiences give us hope that there might be something beyond this freakish hellscape!

‍Do you hope to constantly reinvent yourselves as artists with each new project you produce, or do you try to create a consistent image and sound?

Hopefully both! We like variety on our albums, and we love to experiment with different textures in our music, especially those which we haven’t used before. But I think we’re starting to bring something distinctive and unique to the pop scene which we can call our own style.

‍What cultural elements and artists from the past and from the present inspired this track?

We love The Monkees film “Head!” Probably our favorite musical movie. We also love tons of 60’s promo clips. We like when it has the feeling of a cameraman and a band just going out and shooting something for TV in a day. The Kinks’s “Dead End Street” is great, The Who’s “The Kids Are Alright" clip is great. We don’t really like the big budget MTV feel of what music videos became.

‍What is the relationship between you as artists and your audience? How does your new track further develop that relationship?

We obviously want to please our audience but we also want them to be surprised by where our songs go. It’s a delicate balance between what is satisfying and what is predictable. But judging by the reaction to the singles, it’s clear that our tastes align with those of our audience at the moment.

‍Your music video for “A Dream Is All I Know” was shot on film in NYC and features scenes at a school, on a stage, and in the clouds. Walk me through these visual choices. Why shoot on film? Why these specific settings? How do they contribute to the new song?

Since we worked on the videos for our third album with our friend Michael Hill, we’ve always worked on film. We’ve been lucky to have worked with Ambar Navarro and Max Flick, who are geniuses of the format! Also Paul D. Millar, who shot our two most recent videos and “In My Head” from the last album, works on 16mm film and is very skilled. It’s the same reason we record exclusively to tape. They’re expressive mediums which elevate reality and give the material an additional beauty.

We tend to choose settings that we feel comfortable in but also have a character that matches our aesthetic and the feeling of the songs. The library and theater in “A Dream Is All I Know” is from a school where our father has worked for 20 years but has an un-updated look. The clouds were shot by Paul on a flight and looked great when green-screened behind us.

‍You recorded this LP completely live to tape and you both mixed and mastered A Dream Is All We Know. Is it important to you both to always have such an involved role in every element of your sound production? How does this contribute to your artistic process or sound as artists?

It was recorded to tape with many overdubs by Michael and I. We don’t like to relinquish control since we’re very opinionated when it comes to our music. Recording this way has allowed us to learn about all aspects of the recording process and it ensures that we can follow through on the initial creative impulse that inspired the song.

‍What do you hope to walk away with after this new tour in May comes to a close? What is your vision for the emotions, experiences, and messages that this tour will generate?

We hope that the shows bring joy to people! It’s such a heavy time and we hope that with the material on this record we can bring some momentary relief to ourselves and the audience.