Harris was born July 15, 1980, in Northern California and grew up around the San Francisco Bay area.[3] She grew up in a Fourth Way commune there which was inspired by the philosophy of George Gurdjieff. The community was known as "The Group", which would later serve as some inspiration for the moniker Grouper. According to Harris, the kids called each other and the parents 'groupers' sort of as a defiance. She says: "It was us making our own identities inside a pretty controlled environment, and sort of lashing back maybe... When I had to think of a name I felt annoyed at nothing sounding right. I wanted something that referenced me without referencing 'Me.'" According to her, she "felt like the music was at its barest just a grouping of sounds, and I was just the grouper."[4]"
After finishing college, Harris briefly moved to Los Angeles, where she worked with Mayo Thompson at Patrick Painter.[5] Harris is now based in Oregon. Harris’ first album was 2005’s Grouper, a self-released full-length CD-R, followed later that year by Way Their Crept on Free Porcupine (re-released in 2007 on Type Records). In 2006 she released a single (He Knows), one album, called Wide, and a collaboration with Xiu Xiu entitled Creepshow. Harris made available new material steadily through the years and continued to collaborate with various artists such as Roy Montgomery and Xela.
In 2008 she released Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill. An AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares praised the album for showing more musical range than Harris' previous work and for "letting more melody, more structured songs, and even a few phrases emerge from the ether."[6] Pitchfork gave it 8.2 stars calling the work "an arresting album of pastoral psychedelic pop".[7]
In 2011, Grouper released an album consisting of two parts: A I A: Dream Loss and A I A: Alien Observer, which was critically acclaimed by Pitchfork, while the latter part was noted for being more accessible of the two discs.[8]
Early in 2012, Grouper performed Violet Replacement in the UK and Europe, a pair of longform tape collage pieces which originally took shape for commissioned performances in New York and Berkeley. Besides, she collaborated with Jesy Fortino of Tiny Vipers to release an album Foreign Body under their common moniker Mirrorring.
At Berlin's Club Transmediale festival in early February 2012 Harris performed Circular Veil in collaboration with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma.[3] Somewhere between an installation and a performance, it found her extending her more concise music outward into eight hours of music, designed to mimic one full sleep cycle.
In 2013, Harris released an album, The Man Who Died in His Boat.
Grouper's studio album titled Ruins was released on October 31, 2014. The album is relatively stripped-down; piano, voice and field recordings.[9] The majority of the album was recorded in Aljezur, Portugal in 2011, while Harris was on a residency set up by Galeria Zé dos Bois.[10] That same year she appeared on The Bug's album providing vocals for the track "Void".[11]
In 2015, Grouper collaborated with independent filmmaker Paul Clipson on the film Hypnosis Display, commissioned by Leeds Opera North.[12]
In 2016, Grouper released a 7" entitled "Paradise Valley".[13]
In 2017, Grouper was one of the curators for the 11th edition of the Dutch Le Guess Who? festival. Her curated program included films La Double Vie de Véronique by Krzysztof Kieślowski and Lighthouse by Paul Clipson and music performances from artists Marisa Anderson, William Basinski, Marcia Bassett & Samara Lubelski duo, Brötzmann/Leigh, Ekin Fil, Keiji Haino, Roy Montgomery, Coby Sey, Tiny Vipers, Wolfgang Voigt and Richard Youngs.[14]
On March 8, 2018, Grouper announced her new album Grid of Points and released the first single "Parking Lot" from the album.[15] The album was released on April 27 via Kranky.
During her days as a part of a Fourth Way commune, Harris' primary sources for discovering music were limited. With a little help from her parents, whose musical tastes were eccentric and divergent, she discovered Eastern European folk and American avant-pop. Through her father, who himself was a composer, she would later discover contemporary classical and early music.[16] In 2008, when she released Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, Pitchfork compared it to classic ethereal releases from the British label 4AD, drawing comparisons to Cocteau Twins[7] and early His Name Is Alive.[17] The Portland Mercury described some songs from the album, such as "Wind and Snow" and "Stuck", sonically reminiscent of the Renaissance period composers Gesualdo and Monteverdi.[16]
She Loves Me That Way
Grouper Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We're hardly tired
Your light will help me
Something warmer
Wouldn't you be anything
And we're standing still
And we could be anything
How it matters to me
It matters where you are
She loves me that way
We could be anything
But here, I can hardly see
We're blinding our eyes
And we will never be anything
These easy words, they can't
fully capture the depth and beauty of Grouper's song She Loves Me That Way. The song is a hauntingly ethereal exploration of the complexities of love and relationships. At its core, the song is an expression of the singer's love for another person, and the mysterious, unknowable nature of that love.
The opening lines set the tone for the rest of the song, with the singer reflecting on the passing of time and the sense of weightlessness that comes with being in love. The line "Your light will help me, something warmer" is particularly evocative, suggesting that the singer finds comfort and solace in the presence of their loved one. The chorus of the song contains the repeated phrase "She loves me that way", which is both simple and incredibly powerful. It speaks to the unique and inexplicable nature of love, and the way that it can transform and elevate our lives.
Throughout the song, there is a sense of longing and uncertainty, as though the singer is grappling with the sheer enormity of their feelings. The lines "We could be anything, but here, I can hardly see/We're blinding our eyes, and we will never be anything/These easy words, they can't" hint at the difficulty of truly understanding another person, and the challenges that come with trying to build a life together. In the end, though, the song remains a celebration of the beauty and power of love, even in the face of uncertainty and doubt.
Line by Line Meaning
The morning passes
The start of a new day has come and gone without much notice or significance
We're hardly tired
The previous night's events still linger, leaving us restless and unable to sleep
Your light will help me
Your presence and guidance will provide me with the strength and support to move forward
Something warmer
An undefined feeling of comfort and familiarity that draws us closer together
Wouldn't you be anything
Expressing our willingness to sacrifice and become whatever the other person needs us to be
And we're standing still
Despite our desire for progress and change, we find ourselves stuck in the same place
And we could be anything
The potential and possibilities of what we could become together are limitless
Trust me, this can
Having faith in the strength and resilience of our relationship, even when it's challenging
How it matters to me
Acknowledging the significant impact this person has on our life and wellbeing
It matters where you are
The physical and emotional distance between us holds great importance and cannot be ignored
She loves me that way
The depth and intensity of her love for me is uniquely special and unmatched by any other
We could be anything
Repeated recognition of the limitless possibilities and potential of our relationship
But here, I can hardly see
Despite our potential, we struggle to move forward and find clarity in our current situation
We're blinding our eyes
Our own actions and behavior are preventing us from seeing the truth and what's truly important
And we will never be anything
The fear and acknowledgement that our potential may never be realized
These easy words, they can't
Simple words and expressions of love cannot solve the complex issues and challenges within our relationship
Contributed by Charlie K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.