Last month, London band Girl Ray announced their third LP, Prestige (out August 4th on Moshi Moshi). The three-piece comprising Poppy Hankin, Iris McConnell and Sophie Moss, made an immediate impact with the release of their 2017 debut Earl Grey on the influential indie Moshi Moshi (Anna Meredith, Florence & The Machine, Kate Nash), which channeled the baroque 70s soft pop of Todd Rundgren through the scrappy aesthetics of 80s UK indie and earned high praise from outlets like Pitchfork, The Guardian, Stereogum and FADER among many others. Their second LP, 2019’s Girl, saw the band change direction dramatically, taking on a kind of indie-fied R&B that The Guardian described as “the great sound of a band getting pop wrong,” and in 2021 the band returned in yet another new guise, releasing the one off, house-adjacent single “Give Me Your Love” that was produced with Hot Chip‘s Joe Goddard and Al Doyle.
Their latest album, which they made with the revered producer Ben H Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, MIA, Belle & Sebastian), sees the band adjust the formula once more, incorporating a disco influence that in Girl Ray’s hands led FADER to describe their sound as the music “Dua Lipa would make if she was more used to playing pubs than arenas.” The early response to their new direction has been extremely enthusiastic in the press, with the lead single “Hold Tight” and pre-announce track “Everybody’s Saying That” earning praise from outlets like FADER, Billboard, Paste, Consequence, BrooklynVegan, Line of Best Fit, Clash, The Guardian, Under The Radar and Stereogum who described the lead single as “like if Haim were hopping on Vampire Weekend tracks when Rostam was still in the band.”
Today, the band are sharing a new preview of their new album, the groove-oriented “Up” that recalls Young Americans-era Bowie as filtered through the blended synths and strings aesthetic of early Giorgio Moroder.
LISTEN: to Girl Ray’s “Up” HERE
About the track, Poppy Hankin, says:
“This song was written at the beginning of my current relationship, and it deals with all the emotions of a fledgling romance: adoration, self-doubt, and everything in between! Musically we wanted to pay homage to the sparseness of Queen’s ‘Cool Cat’, and the groove of Bowie’s ‘Fame.'”
In support of the new LP Girl Ray have announced a UK tour that will begin in November. Full details can be found below.
Prestige will be released August 4th on Moshi Moshi. It’s available for preorder/presave here.
Tour Dates
04/08 – London, Rough Trade East
09/08 – Nottingham, Rough Trade Nottingham
10/08 – Bristol, Rough Trade Bristol
17/08 – Brecon Beacons, Green Man Festival
12/11 – Amsterdam, Paradiso
13/11 – Hamburg, Aalhaus
14/11 – Copenhagen, Ideal Bar
16/11 – Berlin, Marie-Antoinette
17/11 – Brussels, Witloof Bar
20/11 – Paris, Boule Noire
21/11 – Brighton, Patterns
22/11 – Bristol, Fleece
24/11 – Manchester, The Soup Kitchen
25/11 – Glasgow, Room 2
26/11 – Dublin, The Workmans Club
28/11 – Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
29/11 – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
03/12 – London, Village Underground
Keep your mind open.
[You can lift me up by subscribing.]
[Thanks to Tom at Hive Mind PR.]