I guess to maintain some kind of musical equilibrium after D’Angelo’s winning performance at the BET Awards last night, Girls singer/songwriter Christopher Owens has announced via Twitter that he will be leaving the band. Owen’s tweets are below:
1) Dear all, This may come as a surprise to many & has been an issue of much thought for me. My decision was not easy to make
2) I am leaving Girls. My reasons at this time are personal. I need to do this in order to progress
3) I will continue to write & record music. More will be announced soon. I thank you all for everything. Sincerely–Christopher
As you can tell, the tweets are terse and vague, so there isn’t much insight into what caused the split. Owens has admitted to struggling with drug addiction in this past, so his mention of “personal reasons” could be alluding to just that. Or maybe something different entirely—as always, Owens will be the judge of how much information we get about what’s going on in his personal life. Regardless, the idea of no more Girls albums is equally gut-wrenching. Both of the band’s albums, Album and Father, Son, Holy Ghost (my top album of 2011) were released during two of the loneliest periods of my life, and I leaned on them like an emotional crutch until I could stand alone. And there are probably millions with an equally personal connection. Girls’ lo-fi aesthetic and painfully earnest lyrics tapped into the rawest of agonies and those occasional fleeting moments of happiness so precisely that they sometimes bordered on uncomfortable listening. But mostly mind-blowing and cathartic.
Fan of Girls? Pour your heart out in the comments section below.
Anthony Schneck:
Damn, also one of the best live shows I've ever seen. This sucks. I think I'm gonna take the rest of the month off to recover. Patriot Month.
July 2, 2012
Katie Zaborsky:
Mondays DO suck. And Laura was the first song I heard by them and it was just...I'm getting emotional again, guys.
July 2, 2012
Anthony Schneck:
I put on Father, Son, Holy Ghost last night, clearly foreshadowing Christopher Owens' departure. Laura.... what a classic song. I clearly remember screaming that into my friend's voicemail one night back in 2009 just to get him to check them out. And by "clearly," I mean, "vaguely."
July 2, 2012
Emily Cheever:
This really f*cking bums me out. Mondays suck.
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