Defining waste as something that is unnecessary, unnatural or no longer useful is key to unlocking the message of Goat Girl’s third studio album Below the Waste.

 

Doubling up as a striking visual metaphor for the ugliness of oppressive structures, or as a by-product of modern society that they must break through, Goat Girl encourage you to imagine a world where such barriers are stripped away on this 16 track offering.

 

Progressing from their angst-fuelled self-titled debut (2018), to the escapist world of sophomore LP On All Fours (2021), the South London trio, consisting of Rosy Jones, Lottie Pendlebury and Holly Mullineaux, enter their most self-assured era in 2024. Co-produced alongside John ‘Spud’ Murphy (black midi’s Cavalcade and more recently Lankum’s Mercury-nominated False Lankum), Goat Girl’s approach to Below the Waste is confident and mature, whilst maintaining a playful sense of curiosity and wonderment. Delving deeper into the extremes of their distinctive sound, Spud’s knowledge, enthusiasm and patience provided a safe pair of hands to bring Goat Girl’s lofty ambitions to life. Weaving effortlessly between disparate elements of expansive noise-rock, delicate folk experimentation and satisfying synth-pop, their unique combination of styles and unorthodox recording methods is a testament to their new collaborative production style.

 

Pieced together like a collage over an extended period of time, the instrumentation was tracked mostly over a 10 day stint in Ireland at Hellfire Studios, in the shadow of the infamous Hellfire Club itself. Additional strings (Reuben Kyriakides and Nic Pendlebury), woodwind instruments (Alex McKenzie) and vocals (including a choir made up of family and friends) were added to this framework at a number of locations, from a barn in Essex to Goat Girl’s own studio in South London. This luxury of time gave the band the freedom to produce, write and arrange as they went along, allowing the songs to be explored to their full potential. They explain: “We added anything and everything we could get our hands on, and from there, we pulled away.” The resulting texture is dynamic, intimate and cinematic.

 

From the varied styles of vocal delivery, which range from gentle and restrained to blood-curdling and raw, to the tasteful incorporation of voice notes, samples, animal noises and miscellaneous objects used in unconventional ways; Goat Girl’s innovative use of their surroundings results in a sonic world that belongs to them alone. 

 

There is no doubt that Below the Waste is Goat Girl’s most accomplished work to date, and in their boldest iteration yet, they have become the most powerful and authentic version of themselves.