MOTHERMARY makes retro-futuristic Art Pop. Named after the mother of Christ, the ultimate symbol of religious hypocrisy and the impossible expectations placed on women, the bicoastal project is the brainchild of identical twins Elyse & Larena, who grew up in a Mormon family in Missoula, Montana, the youngest of nearly a dozen children. “It was our world… our paradigm,” Larena says about those days. “We were brainwashed.”

Elyse was the first to get out. After leaving the repression of religion and experiencing similar barriers in the music industry, Elyse taught herself music production. “I wanted to have control over the sound. TOTAL control.” Larena followed suit, left the church, and rejoined Elyse in NYC. Creating music together became a form of therapy. A way to heal.

The sound Elyse and Larena have created is indeed extremely specific. The contrast of light and dark — of exquisite, ethereal vocals and dark, even gritty instrumentation — is elusive and engrossing, a unique juxtaposition that’s entirely in keeping with the sensibility of sisters who have always refused to be pinned down or defined.