Is that the sun — or the tiniest hint of a spotlight?

It was almost like spring ...

The sun shone on Jen Wood and Johanna Kunin, sitting on the deck of Fremont Coffee on a resplendent Saturday afternoon. With their fair complexions, hazel eyes, dark straight hair and unpretentious ways, these two could pass for sisters — even if the long, lean Kunin is a head taller than the pixie-ish Wood.

Though not blood related, they are certainly spiritual sisters, musical siblings with much in common. For one thing, they share a bill at the Conor Byrne Pub on Tuesday, which they were discussing on the deck.

The two clung to their coffee cups for warmth, as a distinct chill had descended on Seattle. Still, the sun (the sun!) was out, and if weather can be so, it was an optimistic day — perfectly befitting two young women who have struggled with their music careers.

As we cling to any suggestion that winter may be over, so they feel they may be seeing the light at the end of their respective musical tunnels.

In addition to their similar, Eastern European features, there are musical similarities between these two. Both have light, easy-on-the-ears voices and are folk-ish indie-rockers.

"We share a lot of similar music tastes," Wood says, smiling as she glances at Kunin. "Björk, jazz standards and pop influences."

"I think lyrically we're pretty different," Kunin hesitantly notes. Wood is quick to agree about their differing writing styles: "Her lyrics inspire me — to let myself write songs that are more dreamscapes, to be up in the clouds. ... Usually I feel compelled to have a message, and I get really direct."

Where Kunin's lyrics tend to be detached from reality ("just let the world wash over us / without being washed away"), Wood's are more down-to-earth and joltingly honest ("I used to smile / to see you cry").

While both release music under their own names, they are hardly solo artists — both rely crucially on collaborations.

Minneapolis transplant Kunin's airy, surreal full-length recording features an all-star backing band: Keith Lowe, Matt Chamberlain, Eyvind Kang — musicians who have worked with the likes of Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Bill Frisell. It's a testament to Kunin's talent — and her producer, the highly respected and connected Tucker Martine (Laura Veirs, the Long Winters) — that these musicians recorded with this unknown. Martine calls her "one of Seattle's new secret weapons."

"Clouds Electric," the Martine-produced Kunin CD, exists in a land somewhere between Veirs and Amos. It is finished but still unreleased, as Kunin — who plays piano on the occasionally avant-garde work — shops it around to record labels, hoping for support.

"I've been in a hole, lately, trying to get this [record] label stuff going."

Wood can relate to the hole theme — the past five years have been an Alice in Wonderland-like journey into the music world. "It's been a very trying, very humbling time for me."

That might sound odd, to those who know of Wood's collaborations: She contributed backing vocals for Ben Gibbard's side project the Postal Service, the Black Heart Procession, Juno, Joan of Arc.

Yet while she is in demand as a guest artist, Wood has struggled to get her own career off the ground.

She had a full-length ("Traveling Through Roots") released in Japan in 2002 — and then the small Tree Records company that was releasing her recording went bankrupt.

Wood was devastated that the album she poured her heart and spirit into was sitting in an empty office. "I hit this depression, this 50-foot wall, and I couldn't get over it."

Wood, a Seattle native who lives in Fremont, is trying to put that frustrating past behind her and focus on the near future.

Asked about her next recording, she gives a sly smile and taps her head. "I have all the songs for a new album up here."

As part of their search for a musical spring, Wood and Kunin will perform at 9 p.m. Tuesday at Ballard's Conor Byrne Pub ($5 suggested donation).

The Lonely H

During a recent performance at the Vera Project, an almost frightfully young band called the Lonely H reminded this writer of, at turns, a remodeled Beach Boys, an unvarnished Queen, a way-early Led Zeppelin ...

And yes, they are having fun. These Port Angeles teenagers seemed game to try anything — a tambourine, a harmonica, hard rock, quivering melodies. Following lanky singer Mark Fredson's lead, the long-haired band was playful between songs but dead serious when playing; rather than any kind of posed swagger, the Lonely H seemed confident and self-contained.

The skilled musicians clearly have put in many hours of practice time, as their classic-rock riffs were tight and controlled. (The Lonely H finished second to Mon Frere in the 2004 "Sound Off" young-bands contest at EMP.)

While it is tempting to wonder what this band will be doing in two, three years, the future is now for the Lonely H, which has a new CD called "Kick Upstairs" and plays at 7 tonight at Neumos ($8). The Lashes and the Divorce are also on the bill.

Tom Scanlon: tscanlon@seattletimes.com