Standout Track: “Lost Pages,” a love song guided by arpeggios pounded out on a warm, resonant Fender Rhodes piano and lyrics such as “[t]here is a heart on my sleeve…burning red on my skin.” The tender ballad recalls Neko Case and Beach House without digressing too far from conventional radio-friendly pop/rock.

Musical Motivation: The material on Tiger and the Snow’s eponymous first release combines revisited themes from keyboardist/singer Angie Sabin’s years spent songwriting in Portland, Ore., and freshly structured vamping from guitarist Todd Milton. Sabin said being raised in “pretty much the middle of nowhere” Oregon afforded her time to develop musical know-how, but she also had a curious affinity for crooning early on. “When we were just babies, my twin sister and I used to sing to each other in the crib,” Sabin says.

Swing Out Sister: When Sabin isn’t practicing with Tiger and the Snow or working at Crooked Beat Records in Adams Morgan, she’s teaching swing dance to feisty D.C. jivers. “I’ve been swing-dancing for almost 10 years now,” Sabin said. “I don’t know if it’s affected my songwriting, but it’s definitely changed my performance. I don’t get nearly as nervous onstage as I used to.”

Tiger and the Snow performs Thursday, Jan. 22, at DC9.