Chorusgirl

Mixing the noisy, poppy sounds of the dream pop past (Ride, Lush) with those of a more recent vintage (Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls), Chorusgirl take a straightforward approach to their songwriting and arrangements that allows the words and vocals of Silvi Wersing to bubble to the surface. The German native formed Chorusgirl in London and released two albums of stripped-down and emotionally tough songs in the second half of the 2010s. Wersing spent her formative years as a musician playing bass and guitar in a string of bands, first in Germany, then in England, before striking out on her own under the name Chorusgirl in 2012. She began recording demos, solo and with producer Jan Niklas Jansen, at Bear Cave Studio in Cologne. When enough songs were ready to be aired live, she formed a group. Bassist (and fellow German) Udo Westhoff, drummer Michael Boyle, and guitarist Caroline Arvensis joined in early 2014, though Arvensis was soon replaced by Diogo Oliveira. Chorusgirl released a single in early 2015 ("No Moon"/"Dream on, Baby Blue" for the Odd Box label's 100 Club series) and performed at Indietracks, then later in 2015 released their self-titled debut album on Fortuna POP! The next couple of years saw the band in flux; Oliveira departed and was replaced by guitarist Faith Taylor of the group Suggested Friends, their label closed up shop, and Brexit left the German members of the band feeling uncertain. Add to that mix Wersing's struggles with anxiety, and making their second album was a tough go. They kept at it and worked again with Jansen in Cologne on a more thoughtful and stripped-down set of songs, two of which were contributed by Taylor. The group found a new label, Reckless Yes, and released Shimmer and Spin in late 2018.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo