It’s been 10 years since American pop duo Aly & AJ released music under their original stage name, as their last album Insomniac was released back in 2007. Now, the former teen queens are finally making their comeback to the music scene with their new four-track EP titled Ten Years, a nod to the length of their hiatus from the music industry.
Earlier this year, the sister duo released the lead single and video for the album, titled “Take Me,” The second single for the album is titled “I Know,” and the two tracks rounding out the EP are “Promises” and “The Distance.”
While they’ve been away for a decade, their original hits still ring a bell in our heads and it’s practically impossible to forget the lyrics to each of them. How many of these can you remember?
Memorable Lyric:“Don’t let nobody tell you, your life is over / Be every color that you are / Into the rush now / You don’t have to know how / Know it all before you try.”
As their very first official single, the track was a commercial success upon its release and has reached 900,000 digital downloads to date.
Memorable Lyric: “And I ask myself / Who do I wanna be? / Do I wanna throw away the key? / and invent a whole new me / and I tell myself / No One, No One / Don’t wanna be / No One / But me…”
Originally the second single to be featured in their debut album Into the Rush, the acoustic song also became a Radio Disney single and the track was later used in the film Ice Princess.
Memorable Lyric:“And it’s magic / if the music is groovy / It makes you feel happy like an old time movie.”
A cover of the original by The Lovin’ Spoonful, the sisters sang their own version of the song for the Disney Channel Original movie Now You See It…, which Aly also starred in. The track was also included in the soundtrack for the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place years later.
Memorable Lyric: “But the planets all aligned / When you looked into my eyes / And just like that / The chemicals react / The chemicals react.”
As the second mainstream single from their debut album Into The Rush, this track served as the duo’s debut international release and another “Simlish” version was even recorded for the popular Sims franchise.
Memorable Lyric: “This is the potential breakup song / Our album needs just one / Oh baby please / Please tell me.”
A national anthem for all of us when we were in elementary school with our imaginary relationships, it’s hard not to jam along to this track. The catchy single was ranked as the ninth best song of 2007 by Time magazine and ultimately became Aly & AJ’s most successful single to date.
Memorable Lyric: “Up and down and side to side / Every inch of me is like / Whoa, whoa / Got me feeling like / Whoa, whoa / Got me feeling like.”
Another single featured in Disney Channel Original movies like Minutemen and High School Musical 3: Senior Year, this track talks about the thrill of being in a new relationship.
Memorable Lyric: “In the beginning you intrigue / But the way you move / It terrifies me / And you remind me of the things / That I don’t need.”
The first and only single released under their brief re-brand, 78Violet, the folk-pop track was notorious for showing a new change in musical direction for the duo. The cinematic video for the single was compared to being similar to Lana Del Rey’s style. In an interview with MTV News, Aly said the song is a bit of a throwback, “When you hear it, it kind of takes you a little bit back to the ’60s, ’70s and has that throwback sound as well as the female strength.”
Memorable Lyric: “So much talking, swear that’s all you ever do / Show me something before I show something to you / When you gonna take me out? / Make a move and make it now.”
This new track serves as the duo’s first release for their comeback after 10 years of being away from the music industry, and offers a 1980s synth-pop vibe. When describing the song in an interview with Elite Daily, Aly said the song stands for strong, female empowerment. “And it’s very west coast, like this is us,” she added. “We are west coast girls, we’ve grown up in California and that’s very much our music.”
