Riding on the high of a thriving single from earlier this year (paul blart mall cop), indie bedroom-pop artist girlhouse is bound to hit the charts again. Having already made her way onto Spotify’s All New Indie, Today’s Indie Rock, and Apple Music’s New In Rock playlists, girlhouse’s new single “cool guy” is a bedroom-pop dream with a “warm and effervescent style” that checks all the boxes.
Kicking off with a touch of synth-inspired notes, “cool guy” quickly mellows into a relaxing track with “raw and soaring aesthetics,” saturated in its own signature melancholy flavor. Having captured heavy inspiration from female singer-songwriters like Phoebe Bridgers and Soccer Mommy, it feels like girlhouse is taking a distinctive approach with this track, infusing it with unique synthesized elements that bring in a ton of variety.
The song has all the components of a classic lo-fi track with its mellow disposition, but it’s completely immersed in this really dreamy harmony and melodic background that’s impossible to ignore. As it hits the bridge, the beats and strumming guitar turn cooler and the vocals become isolated, really drawing you into an effortless exhilaration that can only be described as girlhouse territory.
In her discussion of the track, girlhouse explained that “the term ‘cool guying’ means to acquire a slight amount of clout and become a complete weirdo. I wrote this with my friend Mark Campbell when I was feeling a lil zesty about some of the clouty people in my life. In all seriousness, no shade on them, I just had to figure out if that was of value to me.”
Gearing up to drop her third record, the third EP through Secret Road Records, we’re expecting to see girlhouse “break out of her formative shell and embark on a bolder and more expressive direction.” The new EP will feature both “paul blart mall cop” and “cool guy” and is said to offer a healthy dose of alt-pop and lo-fi indie rock textured with the captivating vocals and introspective songwriting we’ve become accustomed to. It will be released on May 6th.
We’re also marking our calendars for the 15th Annual Record Store Day on April 23rd when girlhouse plans to release a special vinyl that combines her first two records as well as an exclusive demo track.
The girl behind girlhouse is Lauren Luiz. Portland-born (now a Nashville transplant), Lauren made her start as an actress, making the move to LA and appearing in shows like NBC’s Grimm, and later, to New York to perform on Broadway. It was these experiences that led her to begin building her music career, first as part of WILD, a wildly successful folk-pop venture with bandmate Tyler Thompson.
Now, having relaxed into her girlhouse persona, Lauren says the passionate solo project is more in line with who she is as an artist, explaining that it “feels like the most confident and fulfilling direction” she’s gone in so far. You can catch girlhouse on the sweeping “Better Than Ever” tour with The Wrecks beginning on June 10th in Fresno, California.
Written by Lena Hageman