Horsegirl — the New York-via-Chicago trio of best friends Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece — release the new single/video, ‘Julie,’ from their upcoming second album, Phonetics On and On, out February 14th, 2025 via Matador Records. Following the “spunky and freewheeling” (Stereogum) lead single “2468,” “Julie” serves as the album’s centerpiece, with synth drones acting as an ocean for Lowenstein’s vocals to sail above, all while Cheng’s wonderfully avant-garde anti-solo’s pierce through the woven sea.
The video, directed by Amsterdam-based animator Daphna Awadish Golan, started as a month-and-a-half animation process, and represents the song’s themes of moving into a new city, the cold of winter, and unrequited love. Much of her animation work features animals as stand-ins for people. Golan individually prints each frame of the background video and then hand draws with oil pastels on top. She scans all of those frames back in to create the final composition, with the tactile nature of her style and process being something that highlights the mood created by the track.
Produced by Cate Le Bon and recorded at The Loft in Chicago, Horsegirl’s original and sonic home, Phonetics On and On is an exploration of the lines between pop, minimalism, and playful experimentation. In the fall of 2022, Cheng, Lowenstein and Reece relocated to New York City, and this new environment is reflected in the sonic fabric of the record, being the first time the band had written music outside of Penelope’s parents’ basement.
When they returned to Chicago to record in January 2024, they found a focus and intimacy in the studio that can only arise when it’s simply too cold to step outside. With the help of Le Bon, the group expands into new, bright, clear, sonic territories, with new tools utilized to bring this world to life as violins, synths, and gamelan tiles are all woven into the record. The band’s background in DIY culture and collaboration is tangible throughout, as Horsegirl present 11 songs experimenting with space and texture, all while maintaining a pop song at the core. These are songs to dance to.
Horsegirl is a band of best friends; being around them you can see that love in their eyes and it is always a joyous thing to witness. It’s a love that is ever-present in Phonetics On and On as tenderness reverberates back and forth across the recording. It’s hard to imagine these songs being written by anyone but these three. Horsegirl writes with an unanticipated honesty, leading us through scenes of girlhood and youth. These are the moments of their lives.
Horsegirl Online
