Earl Grey (Uk)

2017 debut album from the North London-based 18 year-old three-piece comprised of Poppy Hankin (guitar/vocals), Iris McConnell (drums) and Sophie Moss (bass). Girl Ray was formed two years ago when the band were still just 16 years old and in a twist of fate as symbolic as it was bittersweet, 'Trouble', their first single for Moshi Moshi was recorded on what would have been their final day of school. A band whose songs document the dramas of adolescence with a wit and wistfulness far beyond their years, Girl Ray are the sound of that uncertain period in everybody's life when the rest of it starts to loom large, when feels are felt more intensely than ever before, and when every decision seems like a fork in the road on your way to adulthood. Being a teenager is a crucible of heightened emotions and transformative confusion from which the 'real' you will ultimately emerge, having fallen in love (and out again), outgrown friendships you thought would last forever, and changed in ways you never thought possible. What you typically won't emerge with, however, is a debut album as richly evocative of the experience as Earl Grey.