Sister Act

Two years ago, The Pierces were at rock bottom. After singing together for a decade, sisters Catherine and Allison Pierce were ready to go their separate ways after their third album had struggled commercially.

"We had a conversation about moving on," says blonde-haired Catherine, the younger of the pair. "We'd had some good times, but things weren't working out. So we decided we'd just do solo stuff."

But within 24 hours, there was a dramatic U-turn. Guy Berryman, Coldplay's bass player, called the New York-based siblings out of the blue and asked if they would join his band on a Latin American tour.

"When they told me they'd split up, I had to do something," says Berryman. "I'd always enjoyed their music, so I asked to hear some new material.

"They sent me some songs played on scratchy acoustic guitars and I immediately fell in love with them."

Breakthrough

Now the Pierces are on the up. Their fourth album, You & I — overseen by the Coldplay man and his production partner Rik Simpson — has given them a major breakthrough, reaching No 4 in the UK albums chart in June.

The band's big asset is their wide-ranging appeal. The album — on which Berryman plays guitar, bass and keyboards — has roots in US indie, but also has a Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac feel.

Since the album's release, the Pierces have played Glastonbury and T in the Park, and they recently shared a stage with Elton John.

When I meet the duo and their producer at the iTunes Festival in London, the mood is upbeat. Allison, the dark-haired sister, is celebrating her 36th birthday — though the champagne was put on ice until after their performance.

You & I was completed alongside the sessions for the forthcoming fifth studio album from Coldplay, due in October.

"Making a Coldplay record is a long, structured process, so I don't need to be in the studio all the time," says Berryman. "I need to keep busy or I'd go crazy."

"Guy made things fun," adds Catherine, 33. "Every time we'd been in a studio before, we'd viewed it as our last chance. This was different. Guy was a hard task master, but he got excited — and that made us excited."

Born to Christian hippie parents in rural Alabama, they have been singing for as long as they can remember. They trained as ballet dancers, but their professional hopes were dashed when Catherine suffered a serious hip injury.

They moved to Manhattan — where Catherine was briefly engaged to the Strokes' guitarist Albert Hammond Jr — and began releasing records. Their first two albums, a folky, self-titled debut and 2005's Light of the Moon were poorly received, but 2007's quirky Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge was, at least, a critical success.

After Berryman's intervention, their music now has a much sharper focus.

"A good harmony is the oldest trick in the pop book," says Berryman. "It's important to engage the listener and make them want to sing along. I've learned everything I know from making the Coldplay albums."

"If you play our songs acoustically, they sound like ballads," adds Allison. "But, when you put a groove behind them, they really move. That's something I noticed with the songs that Stevie Nicks wrote for Fleetwood Mac."

‘It's coming'

Success in the UK has helped the Pierces in America, too — they have recently landed a new US record deal.

But they are focusing on Britain for now. A new single, It Will Not Be Forgotten, is ready, while they are playing this month's V Festival before touring the UK in the autumn.

For Berryman, the emphasis now returns to his day job and a Coldplay album that, on the evidence of the new numbers played at Glastonbury and the iTunes festival, is shaping up to be one of the year's strongest.

"The album isn't quite done. It won't be finished until people drag it out of our hands," he says. "But it is coming this year. We've taken the same approach as on our second album [A Rush of Blood to the Head] and played a lot of the tracks live beforehand.

"If you can work your way around a song before going into the studio, it helps to give things a freshness. That's how you make great records."