In the span of eight years, London trio Girl Ray have gone from folky indie pop to full-on disco while keeping the core of what made you like them in the first place. Made in Atlanta with producer Ben H. Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Deerhunter), their third album, Prestige, plays like a Greatest Hits with every breezy, boyant, danceable song a potential single. It’s a delight (read our review) and you can listen to the whole thing below.
We talked to the band about specific influences behind Prestige, and singer/guitarist Poppy Hankin, drummer Iris McConnell and bassist Sophie Moss gave us a list of eight albums that played a part in the album’s sound, including Jessie Ware, Daft Punk, Donna Summer, and more. Read their list and commentary below.
GIRL RAY – INFLUENCES BEHIND ‘PRESTIGE’
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES – DAFT PUNK
Obviously a hugely important album for nu-disco. Production-wise it’s a masterpiece, and it really influenced and encouraged our use of synthesisers in the studio. Prestige is at its core an album made to be played live. Putting bass, drums and guitar at the heart of the recording process was really important to us, and the way that DP manage to produce their instruments so cleanly without losing any of the player’s character and colour was something that we strived for in the studio. – Poppy
WHAT’S YOUR PLEASURE? – JESSIE WARE
I loved the Jessie Ware’s darker and clubbier take on disco, and her vocal production and performance on this album is amazing! When writing Prestige I was listening a lot to this album for inspiration. Her songs often have a really great arc to them, and feel really dramatic. I love how much space is in the production too – it lets the rhythm shine and makes it super danceable. – Poppy
BAD GIRLS – DONNA SUMMER
This is such an important album that helped shape the sound of disco going into the 80s. Donna’s voice is obviously incredible, but the production of this album is iconic: pulsing synths, cranked hi-hats, and plucky guitars. It helped to influence the instrumentation, tone and rhythm of our album. I love the pairing of live instruments with the arpeggiated synthesisers. A huge classic! – Poppy
FLAUNT THE IMPERFECTION – CHINA CRISIS
Unashamedly, on this album, I think we were striving for the ultimate uplifting-disco-stricken-melancholic pop song with a similar sentiment to that of some of the songs on Flaunt The Imperfection. In Flaunt the Imperfection, China Crisis underwent a slight shift in sound, and with Steely Dan legend Walter Becker producing, they sounded smoother than ever. Unlike a lot of their contemporaries writing equally political songs but with a heavier and edgier feeling, this album is sonically so welcoming to the simple ear-ed. I am regrettably addicted to men in the ’80s doing clever pop, and this album is no exception. – Iris
DIZZY SPELLS – PATIENCE
Roxanne Clifford, aka Patience, succeeded in a similar transition from indie guitar pop in her band Veronica Falls, to more polished – yet still playful and raw – synth pop. Her vocals embody the persona of the lead character in an iconic ’80s coming of age movie that I wish I starred in. It’s that very special blend of indie and synth pop a la Strawberry Switchblade, with refreshingly singable melodies. I can imagine that we were throwing around some quite similar references to Patience in the studio when we were making Prestige. – Iris
PULSE – GREG PHILLINGANES
I actually bought this album while we were in Atlanta recording Prestige, from an amazing record shop called Wax ‘n’ Facts. From the cover to the rhythm section, Greg Phillinganes oozes with the flavour of swag we were hoping to possess on our record. A professional keytarist, Phillinganes sessioned on some of the biggest hits of the 70’s and 80’s (Stayin’ Alive, Africa). This solo album is full of expert soul, jazz, and funk influenced arrangements, my highlight being “Lazy Nina”. – Iris
DAY/NIGHT – PARCELS
Parcels are a really inspiring contemporary group for us. They have such sunny uplifting tunes, amazing group vocal and string arrangements, and the organic live feel to this album was something we wanted to incorporate with the more programmed elements of ours. In the early stages of writing the album, structuring it loosely around the same day and night concept really gave us a fun framework to focus on the feel of each song and how they all fit together as an album. – Sophie
NAPOLI SEGRETA – COMPILATION
Italians really do disco best and this record to me encapsulates how there can be such a beautiful balance of cheesy extra-ness and the feel of a classic iconic soundtrack. This record is packed with very inspirational, hooky basslines which I’d often use as a reference point, and more generally there’s just a feel that no addition is too much. It was inspiring to hear all these artists’ take on disco and helped us lean into some classy cheese. – Sophie
Girl Ray have UK/EU tour dates on deck:
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