Hush Hush

Keri Steel and Nina Loretto, the vocalists comprising the duo, first met while both attended high school in Vankleek Hill, a small community lying just outside Ottawa, Ontario. During 1992 they recognized how seamlessly their voices intertwined, prompting them to treat music as a full-time pursuit and establish Imaginary Heaven, an ethereal ambient pop project that critics frequently labeled the "twin Enyas." The act issued its debut album, Distant Is My Weather, in 1994; subsequent touring included auditions for Lilith Fair and performances across Canada and farther afield, with audiences in Japan and Europe proving especially receptive. Dressed in Gentler Days followed in 1996, and Christmas Comes in Darkness appeared two years later. Eager to pursue a contrasting sound, the pair launched Hush Hush, a loop-and-pop-based venture whose first track surfaced on a Popguru Sound compilation. The full-length debut Cinematheque, produced by Ken Harrison of Wild Strawberries, contains a cover of Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows.”