Girl In The Year Above are taking a defiantly old school approach to their music
The rise of this Cornish/Irish quintet is one of old-school grassroots support and a refusal to play the modern game. It’s suiting them – and their rapidly growing fanbase – down to the ground
“It’s been the most monumental year of my life,” says Girl in the Year Above singer Jennifer Ball. The hairdresser’s excitement, tinged with slight disbelief, is palpable. In the past 12 months, the Cornish/Irish quintet have gone from strength to strength, with a busy live schedule including a tour with The Kooks, and a standout cover of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ on the soundtrack of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. The cover garnered high praise from Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja himself, who called it the most “sublime” version he’d ever heard. Not bad for someone who originally put music to one side “because I needed money,” laughs Ball, who decided instead to pick up the scissors.
Until recently, you could only hear the band’s music via snippets on social media, living room performances on YouTube, or at their live gigs – a place where they come alive. “I really love the idea of how old school that is,” Ball says of the band’s approach. “To go and do loads of shows and people can’t hear your music unless they come and see you.” It’s a romantic notion which sets Girl in the Year Above apart in a world of immediate and free access to music. “It kind of takes away that specialness of something, you know?”
The band’s sound and approach to their songs is a constant evolution and part of the reason why they’ve not fully committed anything to recording. On the occasions that they do, they favour live, organic productions over click tracks and perceived perfection. “Live music is transcendent and people should want to see that,” Ball affirms.
This romanticism shouldn’t be mistaken for surface-level explorations of just breakups and love, though. “I do write a bit about love, but not as much as maybe the next person,” says Ball. “I’d rather cover a multitude of different topics. A lot of that is just storytelling and things that have happened that are other human experiences, because there’s so many more than that, right?”
The band’s debut single ‘Mama, My Heart is Achin’’, released in March, is a powerful lament on the loss of Ball’s mother. Though it began life as something of a bitter response to people complaining about their own mothers or minor inconveniences in life, in true Girl in the Year Above fashion, the song’s characteristics changed with every live show and with every member, softening Ball’s view on grief.
“I’ve really had this whole turnaround in the last two years,” she says. “If I want her to be, she’s sat right there, which is so much more special than if someone is on Earth still.” Her newfound positivity is reflected in the record version of the song, making it less of a “big downer”. It’s a track which has already opened up space for con-nection and shared experience at the band’s live shows, as she explains. “I get loads of messages about people that have struggled with grief and how much it helped, or people that have lost their mum and how they connect with it, which is really special.”
Despite the band’s seemingly overnight success, the singer never expected this to happen. “I think it’s something I secretly wanted, but I wouldn’t admit it to myself,” she says. “Who doesn’t want to be a rock star?” With a busy year ahead and attracting over half a million listeners on two tracks in just a few months, 2026 is the year to live out that dream.
Taken from the June/July issue of Rolling Stone UK. Buy your copy here.
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