Girl Ray

Over the course of their career, the North London trio Girl Ray have proven to be one of the more unpredictable, even mercurial acts on the indie scene. While always maintaining a core of melancholy melodies, quietly introspective lyrics, and a warm blend of voices, they’ve undertaken investigations of many musical forms. Initially inspired by C86-style indie pop and folky psychedelia on 2018′s Earl Grey, further efforts have found them trying out giddy mainstream pop (2019′s Girl) and glittery, love-struck disco (2023′s Prestige) each with a charming earnestness and skillful technique.
Initially getting together over a school holiday, guitarist/vocalist Poppy Hankin and drummer Iris McConnell started writing songs together, but the band only took shape when bassist Sophie Moss joined up. The trio recorded their first single, “Ghosty,” while doing their A Levels. Another single, “I’ll Make This Fun,” followed; then Girl Ray signed to Moshi Moshi. They recorded their first single for the label, “Trouble,” on what would have been their last day of school; it was released in late 2016. The band played shows all around the U.K., covered the Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” at holiday time, and began working on an album. With input from friend Mike O'Malley, who served as the group’s live guitarist at many gigs, they spent two weeks in Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate laying down the songs that would be featured on their debut. After releasing a couple songs from the sessions (“Stupid Things,” “Preacher”) as teasers, the harmony-filled Earl Grey came out in mid-2017. Girl Ray then set off on their first headlining tour of the U.K., and in early 2018 released the single “The Way We Came Back.” Whne they got back home, Hankin started writing songs in the vein of Earl Grey but was unsatisfied with the results. She and the other members of the band were mainly listening to mainstream pop like Ariana Grande and decided to shift the group’s sound to account for their new influences. Working with producer Ash Workman (Metronomy/Christine and the Queens,) the trio aimed for recordings that combined thier lush vocal harmonies with a left-field pop approach. The resulting album, Girl, came out on Moshi Moshi in late 2019. The band played a handful of shows in the U.K. then were sidelined by COVID-19. When the trio were able to record again, they went to Al Doyle and Joe Goddard of Hot Chip’s London studio. The 2021 single “Give Me Your Love,” a nearly eight minute long slice of electro-disco was the result. The group went back to playing shows as soon as they could and it was while on tour, watching the show Pose and feeling the soundtrack, that Hankin came up with the idea to make the group’s next album an all-inclusive disco-inspired dance party full of Nile Rodgers-style guitar playing and upbeat melodies. They decamped to Atlanta to work with producer Ben H. Allen on a batch of songs designed to slot in nicely alongside the neo-disco sound of contemporaries like Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, and Jessie Ware. The finished album Prestige was issued in mid-2023 by Moshi Moshi.~ Tim Sendra