"Take Me" by Aly & AJ 🔊 Music Video

         

Written by Tia

Aly and AJ Michalka (of Disney Channel fame) are back! This is not a drill. Three days ago, the sisters/musical duo released a new song on their YouTube channel. They've been teasing for a little while now that they would be coming back as Aly & AJ, but this is the first glimpse we've seen so far of proof.

The song, "Take Me," is good pop fun—a real "scream along down the highway" type song that promises their upcoming music will be just as good as their Into the Rush, Chemicals React, and Insomniatic albums. Listen to "Take Me" (UPDATE: and watch the new music video) below!

But first: What have Aly & AJ been up to?

Aly and AJ's recent stints in television and film

The two have been dabbling more in their acting sides lately. As you probably remember, Aly used to play Keely Teslow on Disney's Phil of the Future, but now finds her home on the CW's iZombie (which, by the way, had an amazing third season and is SO worth watching).

AJ, on the other hand, has also been in a couple shows and films, but most notably (to me at least), she voiced Stevonnie in the hit Cartoon Network show, Steven Universe. It's not a huge role, but on this adorable show, every role is very striking and endearing—and Stevonnie is definitely no exception.

The two sisters also starred in the movie Weepah Way for Now, where they played—you guessed it—sisters. It's sort of their first "adult" film together (no, not that kind of adult film...), and appears to be a family drama although I'll be honest—I haven't watched it and actually only heard about it just now. It has mediocre reviews online, but they two appear very charming, funny, and worth watching in the trailer, which you can watch here, if you're so inclined.

Their attempt at rebranding with 78Violet

On the music front, the two formed the group 78Violet, which confusingly was just the two of them and really was just a name rebrand from Aly & AJ to escape their Disney image. It was their version of, well, Bangerz and Miley Cyrus's "I'm not a kid anymore" moment. 78Violet definitely didn't have the success of Bangerz, but Aly & AJ's transformation from Disney kids to non-Disney-associated adults did happen more smoothly or, perhaps, just less publicly. The two were really focusing less on music it seemed, and more on acting and other ventures.

I personally found their 78Violet music video for "Hothouse Flower" to be silly, overly insistent, and extremely similar to the trend in "monologue then music video" style popularized by Lana Del Rey in "Ride," and popularized again through Taylor Swift's copy, "I Knew You Were Trouble."

I'm sure Lana Del Rey was far from the first to have this type of music video, but it was after she really brought it into the pop mainstream that weirdly similar versions of the style appeared via Taylor Swift and 78Violet. Let's just say, 78Violet gave a small push that just didn't land. But maybe a return to their Aly & AJ roots will give the sisters the right traction they need to make the comeback they have the talent to achieve.

Listen to "Take Me" below

You can buy "Take Me" on iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play, or stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal, and YouTube.

And here is the video, which is very The Love Witch meets... Instagram vampires: