A filtered picture of breakfast is more important in our time than breakfast itself. Everyone is obsessed with speed and a perfect, meticulously polished sound, and you’ll agree that encountering something sincere is a gift of fate. This is why the folk trio The Pairs from London (the one in Canada, not to be confused with the big, noisy one) decided to press the cosmic ‘Pause‘ button. And it seems they did it at exactly the right time. On October 22, 2025, sisters Renée and Noelle Frances Coughlin and Hillary Watson released The Pairs’ fourth album, “Together on a Rock.” In the new album, instead of studio opulence, the trio opts for an acoustic sound.
Photo by Ruth Kavilhati ruthlessimages.com/contact/
Recorded live, it captivates with its intimacy and closeness- no layer of filters between the music and the listener. At the center are their voices, clear and interwoven. This decision, in my opinion, looks stylish. And if we talk about the internal essence of The Pairs’ work, the album “Together on a Rock” is a musical detox, embodying compassion and genuine, unfeigned emotions, and reminding us how important it is to remain feeling and sincere in a world increasingly dominated by artificial sounds and superficial meanings. A fascinating detail of this project lies in an unwritten studio rule: phones aside! For two weeks, all three band members put away their mobile gadgets. Thus, everything was done in full mindfulness, without distracting notifications and the bustle of social networks-authenticity brought to the absolute.
The album features 10 tracks, each deserving of a separate analysis. But I will share my impressions of some of those that particularly moved me. I’ll start with the first, “Honey I,” which is presented without any adornment. Can you imagine? No fuss or rush. The entire rhythm section is built on a light finger-snap, supported by double bass and guitar, which don’t interfere with the voice sounding openly. The Pairs have a rare, refined manner of singing-something so lacking in the world of monotonous pop sound. Listening to Together on a Rock is like sitting by a fireplace in an old house: the wood is crackling, it smells of tea, and there is warmth and silence all around.
If you have ever found yourself mindlessly scrolling through your phone feed at three in the morning-where there’s long been nothing new, just pain, shame, and a bit of horror-then “Like a Moth” was written for you. The trio takes the old metaphor-a moth flying to the light-and transfers it to the cold, blue screen. Dark and hypnotic, the song sounds in a minor key, drawing you in thanks to the interweaving of the sisters’ and Hillary Watson’s voices, which create invisible threads and mental intimacy. I advise paying attention to The Pairs’ track “Past My Prime“-a song about doubts and nighttime conversations with an inner critic. The cello is particularly appealing; it sounds like the voice of worry-poignant and beautiful. The song was born in solitude, in a cold basement apartment, becoming a reflection on the fear of lost time and self-doubt. But who said doubts are a bad thing-it’s normal.
And in the song “Rain is Coming Soon,” The Pairs gently shatter the illusion of ‘positive thinking.’ The song teaches you not to hide from sadness, but to go through it. Be sure to listen to it-and feel how it gets warmer inside. Yes, the rain is coming. But it is the rain that helps the flowers grow. And who knows-maybe this song will become the state of calm you’ve been missing for so long. In “Out to Breakfast,” they capture the moment a special silence falls-the loss of the familiar rhythm: a slow waltz you suddenly dance alone. The music holds gently, but beneath the surface is the pain of everything losing its meaning. At one point, the truthfulness of the words becomes unsettling.
Album Design by Hillary Watson
I was especially touched by the track “Little Light,” a lullaby for those who are worn out. The girls sing about changes that are always possible, even when it seems there is no way out. The vocals intertwine in a soft three-part harmony, and the finale features a joyful chorus-a little spark suddenly pours into an boundless ocean of light. A more philosophical resolution is provided by the closing track, “Everything Ends,” whose backstory unfolds amidst forty acres of forest. It was there, in a small house by a pond, that The Pairs wrote the song that became the final one on the album. Although the title is somber, it is a bright song overall. It’s about loss, searching, and the comfort that comes not from people, but from nature. One only needs to ask for advice from the pines, the river, and the heron, because all of this lives without dramatizing.
Despite its richness, the album “Together on a Rock” sounds open and is easily engaging. This is a work you want to return to-to hear even more.The combination of gentle storytelling and vocal mastery is undeniable- one can endlessly and easily draw vivid parallels. In their songs, The Pairs speak about people in their own language, about life – with openness and feeling.
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