Consider the girl group. A divine feminine moment in pop culture: whether the riot grrrls of the ’90s, a sleek, honey-voiced R&B trio, or a glam and campy, dancing quintet. But through history, she-the collective, she-has been constructed by men, made a product of the music industry machine primed for algorithms and girlboss politics. Where is the girl group’s place on the pop pedestal in today’s world? What can happen when the girl group, is girl made?
That story starts in Liverpool with Katya, Maria, Thea, Mia and Lil - our Girl Group. The five women met while studying at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, and have lived together (in youthful chaos and harmony, figuratively and literally) since. Katya, Thea, Maria, and Mia are all from Oslo, while Lil is the resident Yorkshire woman. They each bring their own individual sounds and a full-spectrum of sonic references, and it was their shared frustration with the music industry boy’s club that first laid the foundations for Girl Group and their exciting debut EP, starting with the name. "Girl Group" was chosen to embrace and subvert "what we think of as industry-made girl groups. It is a place where we can create a community beyond the band itself, fostering collaboration among women in music". The intention is for every part of the creative journey to be created by women, and Girl Group have done exactly that.
"We’re all very opinionated and very feminist-but we had gone across the pond to this big music institution and still felt very closed out of this guy’s club. And these were friends too! If we were in the studio, it was like we were guests," says Maria. Feeling like outsiders in the spaces they were primed to make magic wasn’t going to work, so the women began having sessions themselves, working on their production skills together and playing around.
That brought us this assured six-track release: a glistening, teeth-baring, dance with hearts in your eyes, throats, and on your sleeves EP. An ambitious sounding debut, it’s set for release on the new Boys Boys Boys imprint by way of Polydor. "Flink Pike", the EP’s opener, takes its name from the Nordic expression which translates as, ‘good girl’. "We see young girls trying to perform to the pressure of being everything at once and completely agreeable (getting the best grades, being the life of the party, head of student council etc) - but it’s used to show how our expectations of young girls are much higher than those of young boys," says the band. It’s a slyly sweet, light as air pop song that hurtles through all the contradicting expectations imposed on young women: "I’m so polite it hurts my cheeks, is this your favourite type of me?". "Yay Saturday", their first single and statement of intent, is a bass-driven tune about the messiness of womanhood and having fun with your mates. "Your Fantasy" pulses with percussion and buzzy synths to slice through the male gaze, while "Man-Made Girlbands" revels in post-punk codas: "You’re no rockstar" is its withering refrain. "Shut Your Mouth Sometimes" beats back against unsolicited male attention or ‘advice’, breaking into a techno gallop, and to close, "BFF4EAE" is a back-to-earth meditative moment of clarity and female solidarity: "I’ll kill anyone who makes you cry," propelling through a celestial harmony and floaty acoustic guitars.
"It was from that very first session, we thought, ‘this feels different’," says Lil, looking back on the band’s almost four-year genesis. The playful, kinetic energy of their friendship spilled into the music: Lil dropped a snus box on the floor, and that made it into the lyrics. "We began running with that, finding imagery and little lines about what represented that first year together, what we found funny and fulfilling," says Lil.
"It’s set the tone for how we work now," says Maria. "We are so different with our own music tastes and style, but we found those lyrics and references that bind us together." Thea infuses jazzier sounds, while Katya creates Billie Eilish-esque alternative pop. Mia mines the expansive Nordic musical landscape and utilizes her classical and theatre training. Lil finds her inspiration in the post-punk, shoe-gazey sounds, and Maria a storyteller and orator. Spoken word and chatty snippets percolate across the EP, bringing the listener into their intimate circle. Together, they’re inspired by the lyrical tapestries and big bolshie energies of acts like Wet Leg and Biig Piig, with Pink Pantheress rhythms, Charli XCX attitude and Lily Allen lyrics.
It’s rare for a group to write and produce themselves, but Girl Group are in control of every aspect of the process, and find creative ways to include every member: "A lot of bands write with one or two main writers, but we’re a five. It’s important for us to have all our voices heard: and we find the tone, nuance, and vision together," Katya.
"I don’t think I could look back and say who even wrote what specific line-it’s incredibly collaborative," says Thea. "I could never write these songs alone," adds Maria, "or have the guts to write the lyrics that we do." What started as a loose passion project has become a creative safe space. Without pressure, they explore euphoric drum and bass runs and heady jazz baselines. Sessions will incorporate a process where they’ll sing lines and decide collaboratively who does it best. "We’ve developed a shared language and our own maths for making our music," says Maria.
The girl group as a concept reflects society back on itself, and Girl Group knows exactly how they’re shaping the narrative too. "We don’t want to mask any of the girliness," says Maria. "We want it to be our superpower." That means always prioritising working with only women, whether directors, sound engineers, or photographers, and that’s resulted in two riotous music videos for "Flink Pike" and "Yay Saturday" filmed around their beloved Liverpool, which is the sixth member of the band. "It’s a movement," says Thea. "And there is room for all emotions, joy and vulnerability here." They hope to create a platform for female artists and creatives to connect-an ecosystem of girlhood.
Their EP will drop in June, and with it will come house party gigs and live performances with "instrument stations"-meaning they swap between indifferent instruments, showcasing their many different musical skills. As well as taking inspiration from classic girl group choreography. Think Self-Esteem on the Woodsies Stage at Glasto. There is perfection in the imperfection. Girl Group are already deep in conceptualising and recording their next record in Norfolk-finding space for more tender emotions. "We’re honing in on that ‘older sister’ voice," says Katya. "I want myself from five years ago to have had these songs." The girldom of Girl Group is a messy, imperfect, rallying call that’s only going to get louder. Celebrating the feminine experience and prioritising pleasure is where this movement begins.
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
