Sisters Lily & Madeleine are proof that two is better than one. Together they create striking ethereal ballads, their transcendent harmonies supported by a combination of easy-going ivory keys, charged guitar chords and a steady beat. Their songs are like the soundtrack to a dreamland of their making.

Their latest album, Keep It Together, marks their third full-length release in three years. The pair are presently on tour criss-crossing the US for much of fall in support of the disc that came out earlier this year in spring.

We got to chat with both Lily and Madeleine about music and memories; their ever-present thirst for knowledge and the influence of Regina Spektor while also investigating the value of youth and promise of adulthood.

Hometown/Homebase: Indianapolis, IN

How does a song come together for you? What's the process like?

Lily: Usually, a song comes together in the fastest and most satisfying way if I'm passionate and focused on whatever subject I'm singing about. So like, when I wrote "Westfield," I was just sitting up in my room, thinking about one specific night in my life and trying to paint the picture of that as simply and naturally as possible.

Madeleine: I agree with Lily. Usually I'll find some inspiration naturally and just sing filler words until I'm able to accurately describe my feelings. I often work on melody and lyrics at the same time.

Who do you count as your biggest musical influences?

Madeleine: I adore Regina Spektor. She's one of the first alternative singer-songwriters I fell in love with in middle school. Her talent and lyrics have always inspired me, plus she's beautiful and strong and feminine, which are all things I aspire to be.

What's your earliest shared musical memory?

Lily: I think one of my earliest memories involving music is from when I was about six years old. Madeleine was taking voice lessons and singing at the piano with her vocal teacher, and I would dance around to whatever they were singing...I think one of the songs was "Castle on a Cloud" from Les Mis.

Madeleine: Yes I remember that too! I'll also never forget the time we wrote a song with our mom for our dad when he got a promotion at work. We sang it for him when he got home from work that day and our mom played the guitar. I still remember how it goes!

How do you think you've grown on Keep It Together, now that you're on your third album?

Lily: I'm definitely more confident as a performer and songwriter, and I don't feel the need anymore to put others' suggestions before my own intuition.

Madeleine: Again, I agree with Lily. With all the experiences we've had, I feel much more confident and empowered. Now I know I can handle both the creative and business side of our career.

How do you think your youth impacts your output?

Madeleine: Because we're still young (Lily is 19 and I'm 21), we are continuing to learn everyday and with every tour. I'm still starving for knowledge and experience and this craving allows me to draw inspiration from almost everything. I imagine that in 15-20 years Lily and I will start to get a little jaded haha, but right now I feel like we still have miles to go and it's very inspiring.

You've released three albums in three years, what's your production schedule like? Are you constantly writing? How many songs don't make the cut?

Lily: We've been working pretty constantly since I was 15 or 16. Surprisingly, not that many songs have remained unreleased because we kind of just wrote as much as we could and put out whatever we could, which is a fine way to make music, but I'm looking forward to being more selective and thoughtful with our upcoming work, whenever we begin working on what's next.

You have an all-female backing band. How important is that to you and why?

Lily: It's so fun!! Shannon and Kate are definitely two of my best friends and we're all very in tune with each other. But we didn't choose them for our band because they're women, we chose them because they're extremely talented and wonderful individuals.

Madeleine: Shan and Kate are the coolest ladies and definitely two of our dearest friends. Playing and touring with an all-female band is awesome because we can all connect as women and we have very similar opinions on a lot of things. We work together and support each other through everything.

What's it like creating in Indianapolis? What's the music community like?

Lily: Lately I've been feeling like I want to move away just because I've lived in Indy my whole life, but it really is a great place to grow up and create in.

Madeleine: The music community in Indianapolis is small but brilliant. It's nice that I'm finally 21 though, so I can go to bars and venues and clubs and connect with other artists. That's something Lily doesn't get to do, and it sucks so bad. I feel like my opportunity to connect and collaborate with people has really opened up now that I'm of age. I'm definitely trying to take advantage of it and go see as many shows as I can.

As musicians, what do you most look forward to?

Lily: I look forward to getting to a place where I can just do whatever I want and create whatever fulfills me.

Madeleine: Honestly I would love to be able to make enough money that I can travel anywhere and meet anyone and gain all the inspiration I can. That's my ultimate goal. I also just want to make art that people enjoy and connect with. I'm not good at science; I'm not very athletic, but I can sing and I can write and I just want to do that for the rest of my life.