SISTERS IN ARMS

Taking care of business in all aspects of their music and career, Rebecca and Megan Lovell, aka the fast-rising Larkin Poe, really are sisters doing it for themselves.

- Polly Glass

There are two dominant images of Larkin Poe, neither of which tell you the whole story. In one light they're the ballsy millennial blues rockers with a Grammy to their name, lapsteel shrieks in their records and T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello and Mike Campbell in their corner.

In another, they're the sweet, southern sister duo who play classic covers on YouTube (from Aerosmith to The Beatles, Pink Floyd to Pat Benatar), smiling into each other's eyes and harmonising as they've done since before they could read.

Now, through new album Bloom, we get a fuller picture of who Larkin Poe really are than ever before, evocative of the influences and life experiences that make them interesting. Riffy blues and southern rock on the one hand, hill country ballads on the other.

"We're having a bit of a renaissance with this album," singer/guitarist Rebecca says. "We're allowing, I think, more of that feminine beauty and melodic energy to come to the fore. And that felt really good. Because there has been this sense, sometimes, of going: 'Listen, clearly we're having success being bluesrocky and singing about, you know, kickin' ass and being badass and bulletproof and, like..."

"Characters," says lap-steel-player/singer Megan, finishing the sentence. She's the elder, more reserved of the pair, but with a quiet authority that her little sister patently respects.

"Exactly," Rebecca says, "this braggadocious energy that has existed for us."