Video: Girlhouse, ‘Worth It’

Kevin Bronson on May 9th, 2023

0

Charting Lauren Luiz’s evolution from siren of the upbeat pop outfit WILD to purveyor of heady indie-rock as Girlhouse is as easy as counting to 4.

Last week brought the arrival of Girlhouse’s “The Fourth EP,” which means (doing the math) she’s released four EPs comprising of 23 songs in the past 24 months. It’s a formidable run, as she’s cultivated an aesthetic that puts her music in league with artists such as Soccer Mommy, Blondshell and Wallice rather than the pop and folk-pop world in which WILD resided.

On each EP, Luiz, now based in Nashville, has flexed a little bit more; her tenacity shines on the confessionals “Worth It” and “You Don’t Think About Me.” Still, “The Fourth EP” surprises — lead track “Gen X Boyfriend!!” takes Girlhouse into pop-punk land for a tidy 1 minute 44 seconds. It’s a song that’s perfect for the “’90s mixtape” she references in the lyrics.

Written with Jon Bryant and Tyler Thompson (the latter Luiz’s WILD bandmate who produced or co-produced all five songs on the EP), “Worth It” is about an abusive relationship with an older guy.

“Basically we wanted to tell the story of someone who is in the very beginning ‘they can do no wrong’ phase of a relationship, where all the red flags are ignored and all the abuse is somehow super endearing and real,” Luiz says. “I used to be super into older guys when I was in my early 20s, and they were all obsessed with molding me into the perfect partner and making me believe my friends were holding me back. It’s always about control. This one in particular dumped me for a girl that was two years younger than me.”

||| Watch: The video for “Worth It”