Helen

The shoegaze outfit Helen, known for its fuzzed-out textures, formed as a trio featuring Liz Harris, Scott Simmons, and Jed Binderman. Primarily recognized for her exquisite ambient output under the Grouper name, Harris—who has also worked with Jesy Fortino of Tiny Vipers under the Mirroring banner, along with various additional endeavors—teamed up with Simmons and Binderman in 2013 to lay down the group’s first single, Felt This Way/Dying All the Time. Issued that September on Exile Records and Harris’s own YELLOWELECTRIC imprint, the release marked the start of the band’s recorded output. The trio spent several years shaping its debut album, The Original Faces, which Kranky issued in September 2015.