Girlpool

Formed by teenage best friends Harmony Tividad and Avery Tucker while both were living in Los Angeles, Girlpool emerged in 2013 and quickly moved beyond the bare-bones, drummerless format of its first recordings. The project expanded toward a fuller indie-rock approach on the 2019 album What Chaos Is Imaginary, drawing angular tension from '90s alternative guitar acts while incorporating polished arrangements and bright vocal harmonies reminiscent of classic pop radio. By the fourth album, 2022's Forgiveness, the sound had shifted decisively toward expansive keyboard textures and spacious production, candidly examining the relational setbacks common to twentysomethings.

The pair assembled a lean instrumental base of guitar, bass, and shared vocals for a self-released EP that appeared under the band name only weeks after they began working together. British label Wichita Recordings soon signed them, arranging a U.K. tour and issuing a re-release of that EP in November 2014. Later the same year Tividad and Tucker moved to Philadelphia, where they tracked their first full-length, Before the World Was Big, with Kyle Gilbride of Swearin'.

Although an early plan called for collaboration with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy on the follow-up, scheduling conflicts left the duo to handle production themselves. This decision marked a modest broadening of their previously minimal setup, adding further instrumentation while retaining their essential approach on the 2017 album Powerplant. In 2018 they joined Dev Hynes (Blood Orange, Lightspeed Champion) for the single "Picturesong."

What Chaos Is Imaginary, released in early 2019, continued the expansion by folding in synths, drum machines, and string arrangements. The trajectory reached its most electronic expression on Forgiveness, where piano, programmed drums, and layered keyboards largely supplanted earlier guitar-driven elements; the sessions were overseen by producer Yves Rothman (Yves Tumor, Porches).