Girl

Girl is an enchantingly lighthearted delusion of crushes and happy hours, composed with an escapist party of a live show in mind (influenced by their own tour with feel-good NYC synth-pop artist Porches). Girl Ray provides a summer fling of an album and makes it feel like an urgent necessity as we seemingly tick off our waning moments in these late-near-apocalyptic times.

Every single song boasts a glittering chorus and light yet effective production; this is a record built on simple pop tracks that are a pleasure to dig deeper on. 'Girl' is the iceberg of 2019 pop albums; dip under the surface, and you’re awestruck by the depth of it.

Splendid. ... All the crafty hooks, Haim-worthy vocal harmonies, sumptuous layers of synths and unabashedly prefab beats belie the poignant nature of Girl Ray's odes to post-millennial love and longing. [Dec 2019, p.26]

It's the perfect balance of serious pop and pop that doesn't take itself too seriously. [Dec 2019, p.107]

It's actually an album that sounds like a band experimenting with their sound and gently steering it towards a new direction rather than a radical fully formed departure from their former output.

It’s the moments of clumsy transitions, erratic woodwind inclusions and underwhelming choruses however that throw some doubt on that suggestion, but there's still much to love on Girl.

Despite the pitfalls of Girl, the group do show an openness to experimentation that is far more promising than if they had just released a watered-down version of Earl Grey. But a more pop-focused sound doesn’t do them any favors either, and they don’t quite stick the landing.

There are quite a few moments where they come close to a meaningful hybrid of their past and present, some that are truly wonderful. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of these, and it's just as easy to remember Girl's misfires, questionable choices and half-baked lyrics as its successes.

These moves are still tentative, and talk of artistic progression is often the kiss of death, but Girl Ray have moved out of a place of limitations into more kaleidoscopic musicality.

Girl feels more exploratory than certain, never quite as assertive of its identity as one might hope. Still, their willingness to shift identity without compromising their core suggests Girl Ray could have a lustrous future.

Stepping away from the core sound of their debut was a bold move from Girl Ray; they don’t always quite pull the change off but, when they do, Girl can be a charismatic record.

Girl Ray's metamorphosis is still ongoing, and that their true final form may resemble something darker and more substantial than Girl's neon reveries, diverting though they are. [Dec 2019, p.94]