Amistat - what we are EP (2025) Hi-Res

Amistat’s “what we are” EP explores relationship cycles through emotive folk music, merging heartfelt harmonies and introspective lyrics into a continuous meditation on connection and separation.

On a rainy Berlin afternoon, far from their Bavarian roots and even further from the sun-drenched Melbourne streets where they honed their craft, Jan and Josef Prasil capture a moment in amber. “what we are,” the new six-track EP from the twin brother duo Amistat, exists in this contemplative space—a series of emotional waypoints mapped through gentle folk arrangements and voices that mirror one another with uncanny precision. Less a collection of songs than a continuous meditation on connection and separation, the EP distills relationship cycles into 25 minutes of disarming honesty.

The EP opens with “what we were,” immediately establishing the central question that haunts many relationships in crisis: “Is what we were still what we are?” The twins deliver this inquiry with gentle precision, their voices weaving together with the practiced ease of those who’ve been singing in tandem since before memory began. The track’s arrangement—fingerpicked guitars providing both melody and percussion—recalls their acknowledged influence Ben Howard, but the emotional specificity feels entirely their own.

“hello” follows, functioning as both greeting and beginning, a song that captures the tentative hope of new connection. The production throughout the EP maintains a deliberate simplicity, creating intimate sonic environments where small instrumental choices carry significant weight. The introduction of mandolin on several tracks represents a conscious return to folk foundations, adding textural depth without cluttering the arrangements.

By the time “goodbye” arrives at the EP’s midpoint, the narrative arc becomes clear—Amistat is chronicling the lifecycle of connection, from inception through dissolution. What prevents this concept from feeling overly academic is the raw emotional honesty in their delivery. The brothers sing about endings with the weight of those who understand that every farewell carries echoes of all previous departures.

“stranger” offers the EP’s most striking lyrical moments, examining how intimacy can collapse into unfamiliarity with disorienting speed. The song benefits from subtle production choices that create distance between certain vocal phrases, physically manifesting the emotional chasm being described.

Penultimate track “sweet heart” provides a moment of tenderness amid the EP’s examination of relational dissolution. The brothers’ harmonies here achieve a gossamer delicacy, their voices so perfectly matched that individual contributions become indistinguishable—a fitting sonic metaphor for the selflessness needed to sustain lasting connection.

The collection concludes with “listen to the silence – stripped,” an appropriate finale that embraces negative space as an active element rather than absence. This methodical closing statement serves as both summation and invitation to reflection, suggesting that what we don’t say often communicates more than what we do.

What distinguishes Amistat from many of their indie-folk contemporaries is their approach to performance. Having developed their craft through years of busking on Melbourne streets before transitioning to Berlin living room concerts, the Prasil brothers possess an innate understanding of direct connection with listeners. Each track on “what we are” feels performed rather than merely recorded, capturing the immediacy of live experience.

The EP’s title “what we are” functions on multiple levels—referring simultaneously to the state of a relationship, the brothers’ current artistic position, and perhaps most interestingly, their philosophy of creative channeling. As Jan notes, “I feel like this isn’t our music; it’s the people’s music. We simply channel it.”

This perspective—that they are conduits rather than creators—infuses the 25-minute collection with remarkable humility. Each song feels offered rather than performed, presented as a gift rather than a product. This generosity of spirit explains their unexpected viral success with a cover of Lord Huron’s “The Night We Met,” which connected with millions precisely because it prioritized emotional authenticity over technical showmanship.

For twin brothers who jokingly wish interviewers would stop asking what it’s like being twins, Amistat has paradoxically created music that depends entirely on their unique bond while transcending it completely. “what we are” succeeds by acknowledging past influences (particularly Ben Howard’s “Every Kingdom”) while crafting something unmistakably their own—gentle anthems for hearts in transition, looking backward and forward simultaneously, trying to locate themselves in the present moment.