Now They Sing Songs of Family Reunion

Recording artists are notoriously hesitant to select a favorite song from their latest album because they are usually so enthusiastic about all of them. But Carnie and Wendy Wilson are quick to single out a tune from the duo’s upcoming collection.

One reason: The song, “Miracle,” was co-written by the sisters’ legendary father, Brian Wilson.

The number is a bittersweet expression of hope in the face of lost innocence, and Carnie points to a line by her father as particularly poignant, “Am I a fool to expect a miracle?”

“It makes me a little bit sad,” Carnie, 29, says, sitting with her sister in the West Los Angeles offices of Mercury Records, which will release “The Wilsons” on Sept. 9.

“‘It’s almost like he feels . . . a miracle [is impossible in his life],” she says. “He feels like he’s been let down a lot. . . .”

Wendy, 27, nods in agreement.

“It’s haunting,” she says of the track, which features her father on background vocals. “It grabs your heart, and it parallels our relationship with our dad. It’s almost a miracle that we’re all back together as a family.”

It’s the same joy that the women felt earlier this year when they went into the recording studio with the man who, with the Beach Boys in the ‘60s, was the architect of the California surf-pop sound.

“It was really intense,” says Carnie, thinking back on watching her dad produce two tracks for the album, one of which was a remake of the Beach Boys’ “ ‘Til I Die.”

“One minute I’d look at him and I’d be like, ‘Wow, there’s Brian Wilson and he’s in the studio and this is what he does, and I’m watching him do his thing!’ . . . I look at him and I always think, ‘The Artist.’

“And then I go, ‘Whoa, that’s Dad. That’s my dad.’ ”

The resulting album is a tender reminder of all that the Wilson family has been through over the years, notably Brian’s meteoric rise and subsequent struggle with mental illness, which led to a painful, 10-year estrangement from his daughters that ended in 1991.

The elder Wilson was supposed to be sitting in on some of his daughters’ interviews, but he canceled at the last minute.

“He just gets scared sometimes,” Carnie explains. “Our relationship with him is more important than him doing press. . . . We’re not going to push him into doing anything that he doesn’t want to do.”

The Wilsons duo is the sisters’ second foray into the pop world. Their first was in 1990 as two-thirds of Wilson Phillips.

Boasting a familiar, Beach Boys-esque mix of sunshine and longing, the vocal trio also included Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas. The group’s self-titled debut album sold more than 4 million copies, but its 1992 follow-up, “Shadows & Light,” fell far short of that mark.

After more than a year of touring for “Shadows & Light,” the group broke up, with Phillips embarking on a solo career. Eventually, Carnie and Wendy were dropped by SBK Records.

After deciding to form the Wilsons, the sisters convinced their father to contribute to the new album.

Steve Greenberg, senior vice president of artists and repertoire at Mercury, was excited that Brian would be on the record, but he was also betting on the Wilsons’ new maturity as songwriters. (The album also includes songwriting contributions by Carole King and former Eurythmic Dave Stewart, among others.)

“Artistically, in some ways it’s like a completely new group,” Greenberg says. “I was really excited to see two generations in this family come together like this.”

Though the sisters pay homage to their musical history on the record’s first single, “Monday Without You,” the Wilsons were hesitant to make the Bangles-like pop song, feeling that it didn’t represent their new direction.

Indeed, the other songs on the record show an experimental side that was absent in Wilson Phillips--from the dark ode to wasted youth, “Candy,” to the uncharacteristic bite of “I Hate Your Face.”

Carnie was energized by exploring new musical territories and by fulfilling her longtime dream of singing as a duo with her sister. But now that the album is finished, she worries a little about pleasing devoted Wilson Phillips fans.

“Sometimes I think, ‘Ooh, it’s kind of scary. How is everyone going to react?’ The music business is a strange business and we have worked really hard. You give and give and give. . . . If people could just listen and smile, I’ll be happy. That’s all I want at the end of the day.”