We mostly known Portland musician Liz Harris as the force behind the mysterious, cult-beloved ambient folk project Grouper. ("Ambient folk" feels like a way-too-simple label for Grouper's whole style, but I have struggled to describe that sound for many years, so it'll have to do for now.) Harris has a few other projects, too, and one of them is suddenly back from a decade-plus silence. Harris sings and plays guitar in Helen, a trio that makes gauzy and beautiful indie pop. They're back now, and they sound spectacular.
Way back in 2013, Liz Harris got together with bassist Scott Simmons, also of Eat Skull, and Eternal Tapestry drummer Jed Bindeman to form Helen. They released a couple of demos back then, and their full-length debut The Original Faces came out in 2015. It's awesome. Helen's sound is basically shoegaze-adjacent, reverb-drenched twee pop, and it's fascinating to hear Harris, her voice cloaked in all the cathedral echo that she loves to use, busting out riffs and hooks way too energetic for Grouper.
Eleven years later, out of nowhere, Helen have announced plans to release their sophomore album Linda's Head. It comes out this fall. Today, the band shares the title track and "Dead shark II," two gorgeously dreamy tracks that scratch a mental itch I didn't realize I had. Check out both songs and the Linda's Head tracklist below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Faraway"
02 "Starline"
03 "endless Sky"
04 "Linda’s Head"
05 "darkblue"
06 "Dead shark"
07 "Dead shark II"
08 "black and quiet love"
09 "Stay with me"
10 "Canyon"
Linda's Head is out 10/8 on Kranky. Pre-order it here.
