Grouper is the gloomy dream pop project of Liz Harris, a Portland-based musician who has fascinated listeners by playing with sampling, echoes, submersion and a decided grasp on cloudy hooks that smear themselves into your brain. Today is the winter solstice, 12/21, and in true Northwest fashion, Harris has decided to honor the holiday by showering fans with new music.
Given the year we’ve had — one full of terrorist attacks and exclusion, the loss of important artists and the loss of a dream many held that we’d be entering next year with our first female president — the soothing quality of Harris’ music feels extremely necessary.
Grouper’s Paradise Valley 7-inch is available now, and features two new songs, “Headache” and “I’m Clean Now.” The video for “Headache” is up above, and it’s an abstract collage of light and sound, visuals that easily reflect the wild and secluded city of Astoria, Oregon where Harris currently lives. It was directed by Harris’ Grouper collaborator Paul Clipson.
You can also stream that one along with “I’m Clean Now” below, via Bandcamp. Unlike “Headache,” the second track never builds to a loud, strummed pinnacle, but stays low and soft, circling itself like water down a drain.
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The last time Harris released a full Grouper album was in 2014, with Ruins, so perhaps this 7-inch is a sign we’ll be getting another full-length from her and Clipson in 2017.
