Society

Formed in 2012, the British pop duo Society brings together vocalist Jamie Girdler and producer Brendan Lynch. Their shared passion for old-school R&B, orchestral soul, and atmospheric pop from the 1960s defines the project, which also draws from contemporary DJ productions by the Avalanches and rapper J Dilla. The collaboration began after Girdler’s prior band Beggars disbanded, leaving the group in extended limbo as Heavenly Recordings faced disruptions from EMI’s restructuring around 2010. During those years, Redding native Girdler passed time at Heavenly’s offices absorbing vintage recordings by Scott Walker, Dusty Springfield, Leonard Cohen, and additional artists. Since Lynch had already produced Beggars’ unreleased album, the two opted to start fresh. Society issued its debut single, “All That We’ve Become,” in 2012 as a limited-edition 7". The group resurfaced in 2015 with the ’70s soul-inflected single “The Fear, the Hate.”