The Two Lips: The Next Rising Stars
By Bethany M
Edited by Rifa I
Information via the exclusive °1824 press conference on July 31st, 2025 with Universal Music Group and Island Records.
The dream pop duo The Two Lips, formally known as The Tulips, made their label debut with their previous single "talk" released on June 28th. This song features the intense emotions of a poorly communicative partner. They oftentimes write about shared experiences with romantic songs like "Still Love You (todavía)" and emotional songs like "Joel,"leaving their discography diverse with emotion and meaning.. With "talk" being their first song in the studio, it allowed them immense creative freedom while simultaneously continuing to grow and develop their sound. On August 1st, their next single "Clue" was released in the midst of their West coast headline tour Kiss and Tell. Compared to their humble start of singing songs to their mirrors, The Two Lips rapid rise in just 8 months after a viral song is remarkable.
The Two Lips are a duo collaboration with Julia (Jewlz) and Andrea. Andrea and Jewlz definitely represent polar opposites of a sun and moon, helping to build an authentic visual aesthetic which they highly value. They take inspiration from other bands and artists such as The Marias, No Doubt, Lily Allen, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, and music released in the 90s and early 2000s. They also take a lot of influence from one of their collaborators and friends, Rebecca Sugar, the creator of Steven Universe. During their sessions, they think about movie scenes their songs could fit in or settings they could be performed in. Both movies and their weekly Spotify playlists play a key role in how their recent music feels, sounds, and is produced.
Part of what makes them iconic is their collaboration. Because they both have different strengths to contribute, they perfectly balance each other. They both agree that being a duo band takes the pressure off of important decisions. Although it can be hard to be vulnerable with each other, they claim to have been in a 'business marriage," because they sort everything out through talking and understanding each other.
It was always their dream to perform these intimate songs in live concerts. They started off by getting a Hailey Bieber Erewhon smoothie before their shows in Los Angeles to performing with live bands across the ocean in London. Before their concerts they do chants with their band mentioning a spin off of Omar Apollo's lyrics, "tulips won't die slowly in a vase." They both say they love going to perform in new cities and states and seeing their fans sing the lyrics back to them, such as when they opened for Sabrina Carpenter in London at the beginning of July. Andrea's favorite song to perform is "Still Love You (todavía)" while Jewlz enjoys performing different covers. They said "Still Love You (todavía)" has given them the chance to perform at amazing venues and opportunities and has made their careers blow up, but they feel like the whole experience can still be so intimidating.
A major part of their brand and storytelling is through heritage and culture. Both Andrea and Jewls grew up with cultural music backgrounds. Jewls says her Filipino background was the start of her music journey, where she learned to play instruments at a young age and was consistently surrounded by musical family members. She always felt like music brought everyone together regardless of talent during parties and cultural celebrations. Andrea grew up with a Latin and Mexican background. Her frequent listening of Spanish songs resulted in her discovery of bilingual music, which in turn worked to influence "Still Love You (todavía)." They both emphasize the importance of using your cultural heritage to stay authentic in an industry that is heavily white male dominated. Their music is reflective of growth and empowering women in the music industry. They describe how their music is still cutesy while also contributing to empowerment, the discovery of womanhood, and the overall creation of safe spaces for women to achieve their goals and not give up. Through it all, The Two Lips are continuing to rise and grow and hope to continue on their journey of releasing new music, playing shows around the world, and more soon!