Four years later The Ennis Sisters have reemerged with Be Here For A While, an album that beautifully documents the girls’ transformation into womanhood. Since releasing their last studio album the sisters have done a lot of growing up: they’ve each moved into their own homes, made some serious decisions about their career and gone through the same ups and downs that all young women experience in their early twenties.

“I think it was important that we took this time off because we’d gone from being the cute little sisters and everybody kind of looked at us in that way,” says Karen. “Taking the time off, we’ve come back and we’re women. People will look at us differently and there’s a lot more confidence there.”

That confidence is apparent in every one of Be Here For A While’s 12 songs. Oldest sister Maureen remains the group’s primary songwriter and more than ever she’s used her work as a platform to express her opinions and innermost thoughts. The sisters traveled to Nashville and Maureen’s talent for writing honest lyrics and strong melodies caught the attention of some pretty impressive writers including the legendary Randy Scruggs, Susan Gibson (the Dixie Chicks’ hit “Wide Open Spaces”), Billy Burnett and Tommy Lee James, all of whom were eager to co-write with her. These artists discovered The Ennis Sisters, put them on a pedestal and helped them document their transition from little girls to savvy women ready to take on the world. Be Here For A While also marks the first time that all three Ennis Sisters sat down to write a song together. “Holdin’ On,” inspired by the omnipresent book He’s Just Not That Into You, is the sisters’ take on female self-esteem and relationships.