What if a nightmare suddenly became an epiphany? Untangle the raw confessionals, tender melodies, and droning, fuzzed-out instrumentals on alternative rock duo Sour Widows’ sophomore album, Sigil, and you might find out.
Released by Philly-based independent label Julia’s War on October 23, Sigil signals a creative shift for bandmates and childhood best friends Maia Sinaiko and Susanna Thomson. Where the duo once opted for a dreamy post-hardcore sound, Sigil kicks things up a notch, melding doom guitar riffs and marching drums with bleeding vocals, mellotron, organ, and cello. On November 11, they’ll grace Portland’s Aladdin Theater with songs from Sigil, opening for Boston-based indie-folk artist Squirrel Flower.
Borrowing its name from a symbol of magic, Sigil reflects Sinaiko and Thomson’s interest in the power of what we cannot perceive, understand, or explain. It’s a curiosity that dates back to their childhoods—Thomson grew up with a clairvoyant mother and Sinaiko in a home of artists and performers, people who could conjure worlds out of nothing—and still surfaces in their creative process today.
“Before we had gotten deep into the process of making our second album, Susanna had a dream that we named the album Sigil,” says Sinaiko. “A sigil is an enchanted symbol that you can make yourself by imbuing it with intention, like manifesting a goal you have.” Charmed by the dream omen, the band set out to make it real.
“A big part of this project is that Maya and I never put any limitations on it,” says Thomson, co-vocalist and guitarist. “If we have an idea, we try it. If it sucks, we don’t have to include it.”
The album’s title isn’t the only thing inspired by dreams. For co-vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sinaiko, the black hole motif that floats through several tracks was born from a vivid nightmare. While they slept, they envisioned the physical realm rupturing, doors locking and unlocking without a touch, and water running in reverse. They called out to their father, whose response to the cataclysm was: “But it could be amazing.”
That spirit of sanguinity isn’t lost on the album. Inspired by the universal battle between positive and negative forces, the songwriting balances tender optimism and snarling defeat. “‘Lullaby’ and ‘Wounds of Purification,’ the penultimate and ultimate tracks, are core examples of that,” says Sinaiko. “‘Lullaby’ is about the genocide in Palestine. The song really speaks for itself, but it’s also a zoomed-out expression of the emotions in other songs on the album: feelings of loss, anger, grief, and helplessness.”
When Sinaiko showed Thomson the song, they were compelled to write a sister piece called “Wounds of Purification.” It’s the album’s final track, opening with haunting vocals and soft fingerpicking. Sinaiko says it brought them to tears the first time they heard it. “‘Wounds of Purification’ is about everyone you love being brought into a black hole,” says Thomson. “But maybe everyone is united there.”
Thomson and Sinaiko met at a summer sleepaway circus camp in Northern California when they were just 13 and immediately bonded over music. They wrote their first song together the following year and stayed close, despite not living in the same town. “When we would hang out, we’d sing covers or show each other songs that we’d written and sing them together,” says Sinaiko.
Since then, they’ve been bandmates for nearly a decade, opened for Alex G on a European tour, and guided each other through pivotal life moments like navigating the loss of parents and partners. “As long as we’ve been friends, music has been part of how we’ve connected and spent time together,” says Sinaiko. “It’s not the only thing we do, but it’s a big part of our friendship, and always has been.”
Sigil was co-produced and engineered by Melina Duterte (Jay Som), an obvious pick for Thomson and Sinaiko, who have long admired her aptitude for creating rich sonic landscapes. “It was absolutely the right choice for us,” says Thomson. “We’ve never been a band that’s trying to sound like a specific influence. We write what feels right to us, and try to make as much creative space as possible to let new ideas come through.”
At its heart, the album traces a natural evolution that’s both musical and personal. “The themes that many of the songs are dealing with are really about where we’re at in our lives and where we’re at in the world at large,” says Thomson. “Maya and I have been friends for over half our lives at this point, and have been growing alongside each other as songwriters since we were teens. We tend to gravitate in similar directions, and we both have total trust in each other.”
Settled in the Bay Area, ground-zero for tech gentrification, Sinaiko and Thomson recognize that being cultural bearers is harder than ever. “Living an alternative lifestyle in a place like this strengthens your resolve,” says Thomson. “San Francisco is in the jaws of tech and late-stage capitalism, and living there, you have a constant perspective of your life choices being lined up against this cultural backdrop. It makes me want to be an artist forever out of spite.” Sigil bears witness to that battle between virtue and vice, and the runes have yet to fall.
Sour Widows play Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave, on Nov 11, 8 pm, $35, more info here.