Sorry Girls: “I wouldn’t be opposed to hopping on the country album bandwagon”
We spoke to the duo about their 3rd album ‘Dreamwalker’.
Photo: Japhy Saretsky
It’s been two years since the Canadian synth-pop duo Sorry Girls dropped their near-perfect album, Bravo!, so we caught up with Heather to discuss the follow-up, third album Dreamwalker.
You’re gearing up for the release of your 3rd album, Dreamwalker. How does this album differ from your previous releases?
Dreamwalker plays a little more with different genres than our previous releases, especially Deborah. We’ve melded our love for the 80s pop aesthetic again with some more classic rock Americana, as heard on Breathe from Bravo! We also leaned a bit more into our love for simple acoustic ballads to create something that feels more representative of what we’re inspired by musically these days, that gives the listener more breadth of style and emotion to move through as they’re listening.
What was your favourite song to record on this album?
My Utopia is special to me and feels like a song I wrote for myself. It was actually written in 2022, but we revived it for this album as it really jumped out as a kind of ethos for the themes of the record. The album is often about breaking thresholds, the experience of growth that comes from the necessity of discomfort, with portals and passageways being symbols we talked a lot about and that came through in the album artwork windowpane setting. With My Utopia, and lyrics like “Holding onto treasure, holding onto my forever”, I was thinking about the idea of a Utopia being a kind of allegory of hope, the place you get to on the other side.
I love Holding Onto Me, which was also written long ago — this one feels almost like a timeless folk song, and Footprints is definitely an underdog that carries a big energy and marked a bit of a shift for us in sound and songwriting.
There’s a song called Music For Rats on the album. If you had to be an animal, what would you be?
I have a friend whose speciality is figuring out what someone’s animal is. They had trouble with me, but landed on “owl”. If I had to choose, though, I might be an elephant. I just love them.
Where did you get your inspiration from for the theme and lyrics of the album?
The lyrics stem completely from where I’ve been at in life for the last couple of years. In this feeling of being at the edge of a threshold and grappling with real and imagined iterations of what a future life could bring.
Which artists have most influenced your sound this time round?
I’m very inspired lately by ML Buch, Yves Jarvis, as always Fleetwood Mac and my ride or die Arthur Russell. There’s definitely some Blue Nile influence in there, some Alex G, Roxy Music, HAIM, Caroline Polachek, Frou Frou, Madonna, Weyes Blood, Jessica Pratt, to name a few.
I think Bravo! is a perfect album — something almost unheard of. If you could only show someone who had never heard your music one song, which song would you choose and why?
Wow! Thank you. That’s such a good question. I might show them Sorcery? Just because I think it represents the weird and wacky realm we sometimes inhabit, while also being a kind of lopsided banger. It’s something a bit strange that gets under your skin.
Is there a certain genre you’d like to delve into that you’ve yet to explore?
I think it would be fun to lean into more of a contemporary pop vibe, like do some AG Cook-style stuff. But I also wouldn’t be opposed to hopping on the country album bandwagon either.
If you could choose one person to collaborate with, who would it be?
Ahhh! So so hard to choose. In a dream world, I think FKA Twigs would be epic.
You’re heading on a UK tour this May. What song are you most looking forward to performing live?
I truly can’t wait to play them all and show people some sneak peeks of the unreleased tracks from the album before it comes out. I think I’m most pumped to play Ricochet live, though. It’s been super fun to practice with the band!
Lastly, do you have a goal you’d like to achieve by the end of the year?
Would absolutely love to tour with a music legend and open for an Alex G, Caroline P, Clairo or someone like that!
Dreamwalker is out June 13th via Arbutus Records.
Find this interview and more in our 1st print issue, available to purchase here.
