Over 10 days in August 2016, Girlpool holed up at Los Angeles' Comp-ny studios to record and mix Powerplant with Drew Fischer. For the first time, Harmony and Cleo were joined by a third performer, drummer Miles Wintner, a friend who easily meshed with the tight-knit duo. The decision to add percussion came as a natural decision for Harmony and Cleo.
The 12 tracks that comprise Powerplant grow and burn with greater fire than the duo have possessed before. Both bandmates were heavily inspired by Elliott Smith, the Cranberries, the Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno, Arthur Russell, and Graham Nash; the influence of each appear in the record's deliberate and intricate guitar work ("Fast Dust," "She Goes By") as well as its embrace of dissonant noise ("Corner Store," "Soup"). Though they were living apart for most of the writing process, the pair still managed to write all but four songs together, another testament to their dedication to Girlpool and each other. Now 21 and 20, Harmony and Cleo confront projections, despondency, apathy, romanticization, love, and heartbreak with a more devastating emotional pragmatism than before.
The 12 tracks that comprise Powerplant grow and burn with greater fire than the duo have possessed before. Both bandmates were heavily inspired by Elliott Smith, the Cranberries, the Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno, Arthur Russell, and Graham Nash; the influence of each appear in the record's deliberate and intricate guitar work ("Fast Dust," "She Goes By") as well as its embrace of dissonant noise ("Corner Store," "Soup"). Though they were living apart for most of the writing process, the pair still managed to write all but four songs together, another testament to their dedication to Girlpool and each other. Now 21 and 20, Harmony and Cleo confront projections, despondency, apathy, romanticization, love, and heartbreak with a more devastating emotional pragmatism than before.