The Good Kind Our Girl

Dinked 305 is brought to you by OUR GIRL!

The Dinked Edition includes:

• 140g clear & blue yolk vinyl 

• Alternate artwork outer sleeve 

• Alternate artwork inner sleeve 

• 32 page A5 photo booklet 

• Signed & hand-numbered edition 

• Lyric sheet

• Limited pressing of 500

The expression of hard-fought optimism encapsulates The Good Kind, an album exploring themes of sexuality, relationships, community, and illness. Our Girl’s trademark dynamics permeate the record, from heavy guitars and soaring lead lines to ear worm choruses and intimate vocal moments. Filled with warmth and honesty, The Good Kind is a celebration of determination – of choosing to recommit to what matters, against all opposition. “A lot of the songs are about taking setbacks and turning them into superpowers” says drummer Lauren Wilson.

“I only realised then, when I thought it out loud,” begins singer/guitarist Soph Nathan on ‘Relief’, the first single released from the album, “And I feel better now”. This song is aptly named, invoking a long-awaited exhale – the feeling of finally emerging from a long and lonely period of uncertainty and self-doubt. Beginning with a single airy strum, Nathan’s reverb-drenched guitar attaches itself to Joshua Tyler’s grounding bass chords, as Wilson’s quietly insistent drum beat throws its weight behind Nathan’s words of reassurance: “You’ve gotta see it to believe it/ Well, I see it in you already.”

This song speaks honestly to the life-giving importance of queer community. From the warmth and immediacy of her delivery, Nathan could be comforting a friend. But as ‘Relief’ builds from that cautious opening to a determinedly, driving force, it becomes clear: these aren’t empty platitudes. Nathan believes in you, because she’s learned to believe in herself.

This sentiment is at the heart of The Good Kind, recorded at Rockfield Studios and produced by alt-rock legend John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse), Fern Ford (The Big Moon, Prima Queen) and Soph Nathan herself. For Our Girl, it mirrors the long and winding road to their sophomore release, and the lasting rewards of trusting in the process.

All three members recall moments of magic in the studio with Parish and engineer Joe Jones, who embraced the band’s spirit of experimentation and helped them to channel their electrifying live character onto tape. But despite these propelling creative moments, Our Girl struggled to fully realise the album exactly the way they wanted. “The way we work best is so based on feeling, and an instinct when we’re together,” says Wilson. “We see ourselves as a live band: that’s how we began, and where we feel fully realised,” says Nathan. Having not had an opportunity to play the songs live yet, the trio poured hours into making demos and rehearsing the songs, eventually arriving at Rockfield Studios almost “over-prepared”, says Josh. However, having recorded it under time pressure, all three members concluded the two-week session feeling as though some essential component had escaped them. 

Through the process of making The Good Kind, Our Girl learned to trust themselves, persevere with the harder path and recognise it as the only one worth travelling. Deciding to chase after the sound they wanted ended up being the most empowering moment of their career thus far, and it paid off: The Good Kind is their most confident, moving and fully realised work yet.