We Are the Northern Lights

“They say lightning never strikes the same place twice…” unless, of course, you are We Are The Northern Lights, the self-proclaimed “accidental passion project” of indie pop-folk duo Hadar Orshalimy and Sheldon Low. With tight harmonies, melodic hooks and personal lyrics that draw comparisons to The Lumineers and The Civil Wars, as well as four placements in film and television, it’s hard to imagine anything about the project being “accidental.”

But consider that they grew up 6,000 miles apart and met in a place called Oconomowoc, WI when Hadar was serving in the Israeli Defense Force training soldiers to clean up a nuclear, biological or chemical attack, and Sheldon was on his way to becoming a Jewish pop musician after a short career in engineering. “We lived and wrote together, but most weekends I’d be in one city performing Jewish rock, and she’d be in another city, singing secular pop,” recalls Sheldon.

It wasn’t until their song “Take Me Home” (produced by Robopop) was placed in the feature film “Beneath” (directed by Ben Ketai), that the two ever considered a joint project. Since then, the duo has recorded two EPs, garnered two more placements in the Crackle series "Startup" starring Adam Brody, Martin Freeman, Edi Gathegi, and Ron Perelman and performed three nation-wide tours.

“Sometimes it’s hardest to see what’s right under your nose,” shrugs Hadar. “But the best part of this whole accident is that what we found there, is just us.”