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Artist News Releases
Grouper announces Ruins LP
By Aly Barchi | Published on Friday 15 August 2014
Off-piste pop artist Liz Harris, nickname Grouper, has strewn details of her new LP ‘Ruins’ all over the place this week. It’ll follow last year’s ‘The Man Who Died In His Boat’, and will be released via Kranky “in October”.
“But what’s with that title?” you might ask. “What inspired the record? And for another thing, did Liz Harris aka Grouper play an upright piano whilst making it? And what of all that ’emotional garbage’?”
“‘Ruins’ was made in Aljezur, Portugal in 2011 on a residency set up by Galeria Ze dos Bois”, explains Harris, shedding light on her ‘process’. “I recorded everything there except the last song, which I did at mother’s house in 2004. Iʼm still surprised by what I wound up with. It was the first time Iʼd sat still for a few years; processed a lot of political anger and emotional garbage. Recorded pretty simply, with a portable four-track, Sony stereo mic and an upright piano. When I wasnʼt recording songs I was hiking several miles to the beach. The path wound through the ruins of several old estates and a small village”.
“That’s a nice story Liz, but what does it have to do with anything? Get to the point, Liz”, the more impatient of you might remark.
Well, try this: “The album is a document. A nod to that daily walk. Failed structures. Living in the remains of love. I left the songs the way they came (microwave beep from when power went out after a storm); I hope that the album bears some resemblance to the place that I was in”.
Clarity at last. And this is the ‘Ruins’ tracklisting:
Made Of Metal
Clearing
Call Across Rooms
Labyrinth
Lighthouse
Holofernes
Holding
Made Of Air
