Girls * Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Two years following their debut, simply-titled Album, and their follow-up EP Broken Dreams Club, Girls have recently released their second full-length, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, their most accomplished recordings to date. The band maintained their balance as simultaneously fearless traditionalists and provocateurs when they holed up in a basement recording studio in San Francisco. Deliberately avoiding the confines of a traditional studio, the group instead set their eyes on an eclectic environment, stocked with an array of instruments and esoteric recording gear from the last five decades, full of warmth and history. The concrete walls of the apartment allowed them to play around more, putting mics in all kinds of crevices, resulting in a huge, open sound. With the din of city life a background to their recording sessions, vocalist Christopher Owens began recording his vocals on quiet nights.

On Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls juxtapose the pain and misery with beauty and hope, inspired by the passion that lies at the heart of gospel music. In that spirit, the band brings a 3-piece gospel choir into join them on seven of the eleven tracks on the release. Owens explains that the title, though it comes from a religious place, "it’s more about acknowledging the fact that music does have a spiritual quality you can’t put your finger on." With his earliest experiences of playing music being street performances of religious tunes, it makes sense that here he elevates his songs to that sacred place. Employing the whole palette of pop music to convey their own intimate, troubled visions, Girls is Christopher Owens and Chet "JR" White.