George William Lewis Jr. (born March 30, 1983), better known by his stage nameTwin Shadow, is a Dominican-born American musician, producer, and actor. He has released six studio albums to date:Forget (2010),Confess (2012),Eclipse (2015),Caer (2018),Twin Shadow (2021), and "Georgie" (2025).
Lewis was born March 30, 1983[4] in the Dominican Republic and raised in Florida. His first exposure to music was singing in his church choir.[citation needed]
Around 2000, he moved to Boston and started the band Mad Man Films alongside Joseph Ciampini (drums) (ofHooray for Earth) and Zak Longo (bass) of Before Lazers. Mad Man Films released two records independently. In 2006, not satisfied with recording music for theatre and films, Lewis moved to Brooklyn, New York, and started the Twin Shadow project.[1]
Forget received critical acclaim, appearing on numerous "album of the year" lists, includingPitchfork (#26)[6] andStereogum (#32).[7][8] It has been described as "steeped in 1980s new wave",[2] "building from streaks of haunting synth textures",[9] having "sophisticated melodies", "R&B intimacy", and "poetic lyrics",[10] and "hazily new wave-tinged pop".[11] Twin Shadow wasRolling Stone's Band of the Week on October 7, 2010.[12]
Twin Shadow at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, August 5, 2012
On July 10, 2012, Lewis released his follow-up album,Confess, which he produced himself.[13] He gained inspiration for the album after being involved in a motorcycle accident in Boston.[13] Two of the album's songs, "Five Seconds" and "Patient", were transformed into a music video saga that drew inspiration from Lewis's 2012 novel,The Night of the Silver Sun.[14]The A.V. Club described the record as "filled with Morrissey-esque yelps and Human League-worthy choruses, [...] Twin Shadow manages to digest his influences rather than simply replicate them.Confess retains the humid fog that saturatedForget, but the instrumentation is brighter, louder, and sharper. Synthesizers punch through the atmosphere, and Lewis' exquisite croon floats above it all."[15]
Confess debuted on theBillboard 200 at No. 54, and on the Top Rock Albums chart at No. 18. It had sold 30,000 copies in the US as of March 2015.[16]
After criticising his own work for being too elitist,[17] Lewis set out to create a more approachable album, which he namedEclipse.[18] It was his first with a major record label,Warner Music. Carl Wilson ofBillboard magazine noted that Twin Shadow had left behind much of his "foggy layers of synths and drum machines", reminiscent of the likes ofDepeche Mode andSimple Minds, in favor of a more contemporary sound.[17]
Eclipse is also noted for being a near-complete departure from guitar-playing, a conscious decision by Lewis, according to aPitchfork interview in January 2015.[19]
The track "To the Top" was featured in the trailer for the filmPaper Towns.[20]
On April 17, 2015, Twin Shadow and his band and crew were involved in a tour bus crash.[21] The driver, John Crawford, and drummer Andy Bauer were hospitalized and in serious condition. Lewis underwent reconstructive hand surgery following the accident.[22]
On July 28, 2015, Twin Shadow released theNight Rally mixtape for free online, in conjunction with the announcement of tour by the same name.[23] Due to Bauer's severe injuries from the April bus crash, the band retooled the songs in the live set, with samples and a drum machine to keep time. Twin Shadow toured the United States and Canada and opened a portion ofDeath Cab for Cutie's US tour.[24]
Night Rally consists of recordings from 2010 to 2014. During his convalescence in Los Angeles following the bus crash, Lewis began to look through old hard drives. He left a message under the mixtape onSoundCloud, expressing how his discovery gave him a glimpse into the past five years:
The more I dug, the more I realized how much music was made in the last 5 years. Being home, I had the time and perspective to enjoy all the little impulses, embarrassing choices, and exciting moments that I couldn't bottle. There were also some songs that I couldn't understand why I never finished".[25]
Twin Shadow released his fourth studio album,Caer, on April 27, 2018, which was his final album with Warner Bros. On October 26, 2018, he launched his own label, Cheree Cheree, with the release of the single "Hollow Days", which incorporates thebachata sounds of his birthplace, the Dominican Republic. An EP titledBroken Horses was issued on December 26, 2018.[26]
Twin Shadow released his fifth,self-titled studio album on July 9, 2021, on his own label, Cheree Cheree. According to a press release quoted byPaste magazine, the record "represents Lewis' biggest sonic shift to date and finds the artist reexamining the cherished sounds of the golden era of soul and punk that were part of his musical upbringing and embracing his Dominican heritage, recording portions of the album at FAMA Studios in the Dominican Republic".[27]
Fashion is a notable interest for Lewis, as chronicled byThe New York Times, who stated that he is "givingKanye West a run for his money as the music world's leading fashion dilettante".[29] Twin Shadow was a featured musician inLevi's "Live in Levi's" ad campaign.[30] Since 2010, he has served as amuse and composer for Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osbourne, the designers of theCFDA-award-winning fashion line "Public School".[31] In 2015, Twin Shadow composed the music for their spring/summer 2015 and spring/summer 2016 runway shows, which took place duringNew York Fashion Week. In addition to composing music for Public School, Lewis has modeled for the clothing brand, both on and off the runway.[32]
In 2013, Lewis appeared as a fictional version of himself in the video gameGrand Theft Auto V as a DJ for the in-game radio stationRadio Mirror Park.[51] His songs "Shooting Holes", "Forget", and "Old Love / New Love", a track he made specifically for the video game, were featured on the station.[52][53]
He made his feature film debut in the 2018 science fiction action Western filmFuture World.
^Leas, Ryan (January 27, 2015)."Q&A: Twin Shadow on Eclipse, Signing to Warner Bros., & Indie Vs. Pop".Stereogum. RetrievedMarch 19, 2015.I know that that can appeal to what people call an 'indie audience.' Or right now, making something that's minimal and R&B would be appealing to an indie audience. I understand those games very well. But I try not to make music in the shadow of that knowledge, you know? My ambition is to get as many people to hear my music as possible. If that makes me 'pop,' then that makes me pop.
^Cohen, Ian (January 8, 2015)."Twin Shadow".Pitchfork. RetrievedMarch 19, 2015.
