Aly & AJ the sister duo behind 2007’s Potential Breakup Song announce their first album in 14 years

Aly and AJ Michalka — the teen sister sensation known as ‘Aly & AJ’ — announced the release of their first album in 14 years on Tuesday. 

Best known for their 2007 hit Potential Breakup Song, the sisters who are 31 and 29, are back with a new LP — a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun — which is set for release on May 7. 

Speaking about the exciting news in conversation with People, the former Disney channel actresses (Phil of the Future, Cow Belles) said, ‘It feels like the first time,’ despite being in the business for over a decade. 

Their Disney channel presence set them up for a lucrative double threat career alongside the likes of Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus, but they never quite garnered the same level of fame as others.

They went on to record three albums between 2005 and 2007 — Into the Rush, Acoustic Hearts of Winter and Insomniatic — under Hollywood Records, and continued to make music, most recently EPs Ten Years (2017) and Sanctuary (2019).  

In spite of this, they said of their upcoming album: ‘It feels like the first time in a weird way, like making a record for the first time. In a bizarre way, it feels like a record that you make as an artist without all of the jaded aspects that come with being an act that has been around for 15-plus years. 

They added, ‘That’s kind of the exciting part for us with this album is that we weren’t writing this for anyone specifically, we weren’t writing this for radio — we wrote this for us, first and foremost, and our fans.’

Potential Breakup Song was a true sleeper hit and has held its place in the musical landscape over a decade later, finding a new resurgence of interest after becoming a viral TikTok sound in 2020. 

The sisters spoke of their elation at the song’s endurance for both new fans and old, especially during a ‘hard year.’  

‘We call it the PBS resurrection. It truly made us so excited. I think to see that fans have caught on, whether it was a song they hadn’t heard in 14 years or had never heard it, it just meant a lot to Aly and I, that, whether you’re Gen Z or older, people are experiencing this nostalgic tune,’ AJ shared. 

The sound being used by used by fans and celebrities alike, Aly said the videos, ‘brought us a lot of laughter…A lot of the TikToks that we were getting sent from friends made us laugh and then we would share them with each other, other friends. It was a very cool surprise.’ 

Speaking on their new album, they said the inspiration behind it was to capture ‘the sounds of the West coast,’ and their lives as ‘California kids,’ being born and raised in Torrance.

They also said their aim was to make a record that ‘felt timeless and classic,’ and above all would bring ‘joy and happiness’ to listeners. 

‘This album should make people get up on their feet and out and into life….it’s a really positive record. I think that’s something that AJ and I have always strived to portray in most of our music,’ Aly shared. 

A true adult record, they shared ‘we are so proud of these songs,’ adding they hoped their listeners would sense the ‘great energy,’ they tried to infuse into it. ‘We really can’t wait to play it live.’

The title being a reflection of their own career path, they thanked their followers on Twitter in tandem with the announcement. ‘Thank you for being there since the beginning while we got up on our feet and back out into the sun.’