Girl In The Year Above's New Single ‘Ode to the Glory Days’ Creates A Whole World In Its Lyrics
Girl in the Year Above show why Massive Attack rate them and you should too with their emotional new single Ode to the Glory Days; that comes to terms with sobriety and the growing pains of age with ferocious storytelling backed by their Celtic roots.
Cornish/Irish folk outfit Girl in the Year Above attracted a lot of eyeballs when they appeared on the soundtrack Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the conclusion of Steven Knight’s Birmingham-set gangster drama, covering Massive Attack’s Teardrop with what Robert Del Naja praised as the “most sublime, beautiful interpretation of that song anyone has ever done”. They did that with only having one single; Mama My Heart is Achin’, out – and was enough to sell out two nights of Camden Assembly in London almost instantly; following a string of support slots for The Kooks ahead of two nights at tastemaker The Great Escape festival in Brighton; including spots on The Beach supporting Angine de Poitrine and one on at One Church, in a mid afternoon slot.
“I’m not numb now / they say I’m no fun now, / cause I have room to ruin / my thoughts alone,” the haunting lyrics cast a spell over the audience instantly. It’s fascinating to watch the themes of the song tackle the growing realisation of the clarity of a post-alcohol life; be it a week, a month, a day without drink – and the theme hits incredibly hard with just about anyone thanks to Jennifer Ball’s raw, emotional voice. It creates a memory of time gone by and the growing self-assurance that you don’t have to have alcohol to have fun – asking the audience if by going so hard when you were younger; you burnt bright before the night was over. It’s the turbulence of youth mixed in with the fact that everyone when they’re younger believes they’re invincible – “did you tell your father you were never going to get older?” but then – when the consequences of age are addressed – the reality of time comes for us all. Peaky Blinders may be all about Tommy Shelby’s so-called immortality, but this is a very mortal song: deeply moving and harrowing. Rarely has an example of a band’s music being so perfectly suited to any one piece of entertainment.
Every Girl in the Year Above song feels like a whole world of storytelling is created with the band maximising their Celtic origins to incredible effect; and Ode to the Glory Days is no different, a time-capsule into an other world and culture itself. They arrive as though they have been around for years and this is their third album as opposed to their third song: Jennifer Ball’s voice is one of the most distinctive, clear deliveries you’ll hear just about anywhere. It feels that inevitable a Girl in the Year Above explosion is bound to happen – it’s just a question of when the rest of the world will catch on.
The language and emotional heaviness drives Ode to the Glory Day’s themes across the record; and you buy into it completely and utterly with its sincere commitment that the band embrace whole-heartedly. It feels earnest, real and lived in: haunting and almost akin to a ghost story unfolding before our very eyes.
TOUR DATES:May 13 2026 – Brighton, United Kingdom - TGE Beach – The Deep End May 14 2026 – Brighton, United Kingdom – ONE Church (The Great Escape)May 19 2026 – Glasgow, United Kingdom – The GarageMay 20 2026 – Birmingham, United Kingdom – The Sunflower LoungeMay 21 2026 – London, United Kingdom – The Camden AssemblyMay 23 2026 – Warrington, United Kingdom – Victoria Park, WarringtonMay 25 2026 – Sheffield, United Kingdom – Sidney & MatildaMay 26 2026 – Bristol, United Kingdom – The LouisianaMay 27 2026 – London, United Kingdom – The Camden AssemblyJune 3 2026 – Belfast, United Kingdom – VoodooCatch them on tour before a string of festival appearances this summer.