Girl Ray - Earl Grey

If you’re going to name your debut album after a variety of tea, you better make sure you brew it properly. Early singles of Girl Ray’s - the playfully woozy ‘Trouble’ (strangely omitted from this debut) and the loved-up harmonies of ‘Stupid Things’ - showed bags of promise, but all too often, ‘Earl Grey’ settles into a comfy enough rhythm, and ebbs along in a dirge of platitudes about The Great British Weather and noodling guitars. Playing off music that’s been made a million times over, ‘Earl Grey’ isn’t just a quaint look back, it’s a lukewarm cup of twee.