Grouper's Liz Harris on Helen's New Album 'Linda's Head' and Fearing the Music Industry
Liz Harris, aged 46, the ambient artist known as Grouper, has unveiled Linda's Head, marking the second album from her dream-pop group Helen, released five years after Grouper's Shade. The trio, which features Harris on vocals and guitar, drummer Jed Bindeman, and bassist Scott Simmons, follows up their 2015 debut, The Original Faces. Harris, who founded Grouper in Oakland in 2005 and currently resides in Astoria, Oregon, characterizes Helen’s sound as restorative, in contrast to the solitude of Grouper. Tracks like Dead Shark delve into themes of ecstatic nihilism amidst the Gaza conflict and US politics. Her 2008 song Poison Tree gained viral fame on TikTok during the pandemic, amassing over 300 million streams and earning six figures. She also held two sold-out performances at Town Hall in Manhattan.
Key facts
- Helen released Linda's Head, their second album, following 2015 debut The Original Faces
- Liz Harris started Grouper in 2005 in Oakland, California, and now lives in Astoria, Oregon
- Helen comprises Harris, drummer Jed Bindeman and bassist Scott Simmons
- Grouper's last album, Shade, came five years before the current tour
- Harris's 2008 rarity Poison Tree was fraudulently registered and uploaded, earning around six figures before being shut down
- Poison Tree now has more than 300m streams on the world's biggest music streamer
- Kranky general manager Brian Foote alerted Harris to the song's 20m plays
- Harris performed two sold-out nights at Town Hall in midtown Manhattan in mid-September
- Harris was born in 1980 and her parents joined a Fourth Way commune in Sonoma County
- Harris runs the label YellowElectric, zine Presence and occasional gallery Anita
Entities
Artists
- Liz Harris
- Jed Bindeman
- Scott Simmons
- Phoebe Bridgers
- Mk.gee
- Lil B
- 100 Gecs
- Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
- Lloyd Kahn
- Gurdjieff
- Brian Foote
Institutions
- Grouper
- Helen
- Little Axe Records
- the Lavender Flu
- Kranky
- YellowElectric
- Presence
- Anita
- Town Hall
- Dead Moon
- the Guardian
Locations
- Oakland
- California
- United States
- Astoria
- Oregon
- Williamsburg
- New York
- Manhattan
- Portland
- Washington
- Mount St Helen
- San Francisco
- Bolinas
- Sonoma County
- Gaza