London duo Girlhood – aka Tessa Cavanna and Christian Pinchbeck – today announce their self-titled debut album. Due later this year, it’s the culmination of years of work, following a chance meeting between the talented pair on the banks of the Regent’s Canal in 2017. The news arrives alongside their joyful teaser-track ‘Sister’, too – which you can hear below. “For me, ‘Sister’ is about celebrating love in all her shapes, colours and sounds!” Tess explains. “These beautiful people throw their loving arms around us! I am thankful for love, and for ALL my sisters!” Christian tells us more about their band, and what they’ve got coming up.
Hi Christian, how’s it going? Are you having a good day?
Hi Dork, having a blast thanks. I’m busy on photoshop making stuff for the upcoming release. It’s all happening and super exciting.
Tell us about your band – what have you been up to so far, any notable highlights?
We’re Girlhood, a kind of bittersweet relationship that works in creating something different and fresh, that ironically we both love equally. Our music ideas couldn’t be further apart, but that’s what helps our sound go somewhere we wouldn’t ever go alone.
Our highlight has most definitely been playing what as one of our first shows, in Bristol, and people were flooded out the door and onto the street. We never really anticipated our music travelling that far, but I guess that’s how great the industry is now. But the buzz that gave us, I’ll never forget. Playing Iceland Airwaves blew my mind as well.
It’s great your album’s nearly here, how did you find the process of putting it together?
Honestly, the process was a combination of a whirlwind and a war. We tried some new techniques, producers, genre-bending and flipping from writing to mixing between us. We got a lot more fluid than on the VOL 1 EP; opening the floodgates, so to speak. The end result is not at all what we set out trying to make, but it’s something much more majestic and intricate.
It must be weird releasing it during a pandemic, has that mucked up many of your plans?
I’m not so sure. I spend more of it inside working as I’m a bit of an introvert anyway, so it doesn’t seem too much different than last time in that respect. The difference is we weren’t so sure if there was a place for us in the scene after a bit of time away, but the response to The Love I Need has been really great, so fingers crossed people still want to hear more.
Are there any particular kinds of songs that you especially enjoy writing or performing?
‘Sister’ is by far our favourite to play live. We knew it was something special as we usually had a few people come up to us after shows to ask about it, as it’s been in our set for a long time now. ‘Fall Away’ is my favourite song on the album; it’s this super raw ballad Tess wrote in an hour after a break-up. I remember trying to mix it after she had left, and I was in pieces.
Does the music you make together differ from the music you make apart?
Tess’s solo project Tiece is far from Girlhood; it’s almost like a poetic trip-hop collage. My stuff is just Girlhood; everything I make is going into that bank for whatever’s next for us.
What have you found most challenging about getting your music ‘out there’? Is being a musician tough?
The most challenging is when you love a song you’ve written, but the response isn’t as good. That can be super tough to come to terms with, but usually, you end up agreeing.
What do you do for fun?
Cooking! I am a huge foodie. I don’t get much time at the moment as I am just about to start a family, but I will cook at any free given time.
Do you have big plans for the next few months? What are you up to?
I am hugely looking forward to the journey of the next few singles and then the record’s release. I’ve always been into music for this part, I live and breathe it.
Girlhood’s self-titled debut album is out 23rd October.
