Overcoats on Making Dance Music with Meaning

"It's always a fun crowd in New York, so it's nice to be back," JJ Mitchell told us before taking the stage at Baeble's Bands + Brews earlier this summer. Mitchell is one half of indie group Overcoats. Along with her best friend, Hana Elion, the two make gorgeous electro-pop paired with breathtaking harmonies and intricate stories about self-love.

"It's music that heals your heart and moves your body Make people move and dance but still write about things that are difficult," Elion told us when asked to describe their music. Her illustration of their sound deemed to be accurate when they performed on that warm night. Along with the singers, the crowd was dancing for most of the show and when they weren't, they were listening carefully to the painful lyrics about heartbreak and exploring womanhood.

"I hope people can find some healing in the music. Just at any difficult time, I hope the album can speak to them and give them some peace. I really like the idea - to quote LCD Soundsystem - of 'dancing yourself clean.' Getting it all out," Elion shared. Well, we definitely danced ourselves clean when they performed for us, and it's great to see artists with such strong wills to use their music for the right reasons.

Hana and JJ started Overcoats while they were college roommates and they co-wrote all twelve songs on 'YOUNG. The two were drawn to each other when they first met as teenagers in 2011, finding connection in a love of diverse musical styles, and forging a closeness that verges on sisterhood. Both members of Overcoats describe the first time hearing each other sing as an epiphany: the harmony of their voices leading to personal, individual discovery.