A lot of kids in a lot of sleepy villages know just what Nerissa and Katryna Nields mean by “This Town Is Wrong,” the title of their latest album. That’s sort of the point.
The album is a soundtrack to Nerissa’s forthcoming young-adult novel of the same name, and the songs revolve around a pair of 13-year-old girls who use songwriting to ward off the travails of adolescence. That is not to imply that “This Town Is Wrong” (Zoe Records) mimics the songwriting of 13-year-old girls. Few teenagers write songs as thoughtful and well-developed as the Nields sisters.
Their 11th album together — some as the band the Nields, some as a duo — is a stirring folk-rock affair. Their voices tumble over each other through the framework of the songs, and Katryna’s powerful soprano spirals ever higher with support from Nerissa’s earthy lower timbre.
Nerissa’s lyrics are vivid and poignant on “Glow-in-the-Dark Plastic Angel,” a song that echoes Dar Williams’ punchy acoustic style. The sisters are adept at other musical forms, too, including the vintage country-ballad sound of “Sara, With Your Ring,” and the gentle crooning folk of “Haven’t I Been Good.”
