Acclaimed singer-songwriter and actor Johnny Flynn has announced a new musical project – this time in collaboration with his sister, Lillie Flynn – marking the siblings’ first official release together. Though they have shared the stage before, this project represents their first formal creative partnership as a duo.
“We’ve always sung together,” the siblings shared in a joint statement. “And we want to celebrate that in a simple way -celebrating songs we love and the way our voices come from the same place and the same memories. We’ve been talking about doing this for a long time.”
The forthcoming project will include both original songs and covers, inspired by the folk, acoustic, and traditional music they grew up with. The project is described as deeply personal – an exploration of sibling harmony and the storytelling that binds them as artists and family.
Johnny Flynn is well-known for his dual career as a musician and actor. He is the frontman of Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, a band that has released six studio albums blending folk, indie, and poetic lyricism. He has also collaborated on the 2021 album ‘Lost in the Cedar Wood’ with author Robert Macfarlane, and composed the theme for the beloved BBC series Detectorists.
On stage and screen, Flynn’s performances have earned wide acclaim. He portrayed David Bowie in Stardust (2020), Mr. Knightley in Emma (2020), and most recently took on the role of Richard Burton in Sam Mendes’ The Motive and the Cue, which premiered at the National Theatre before moving to the West End.
Though less widely known, Lillie Flynn is a seasoned performer with a strong background in theatre and music. She has worked with innovative theatre companies including Kneehigh, Punchdrunk, and Shakespeare’s Globe. Her vocals have occasionally featured with her brother’s band, where audiences have praised their uncanny harmony and emotional synchronicity. The upcoming project promises to put that front and centre for the first time in a studio setting.
This upcoming music project is the culmination of years of behind-the-scenes collaboration. Their musical bond was forged through singing traditional songs around the family home, and later, through collaborations on stage. The siblings recently discussed this musical upbringing and shared love for performance on the Relatively podcast.
Set for release later this year, the project is expected to be accompanied by a short run of live shows including two performances at London’s Open Air Theatre in September . With a stripped-back, acoustic focus and a reverence for shared memory, this project will offer listeners a rare and intimate glimpse into a musical relationship that has been decades in the making.
The link to buy tickets for Johnny and Lillie Flynn’s performance in September can be accessed here.
