Christopher Owens has released new music for the first time since 2017, in the form of the hopeful single ‘I Think About Heaven’. Check it out below.
Released today (July 30), ‘I Think About Heaven’ finds the former Girls frontman in a state of serenity. It’s his first release since ‘Vante’, an EP with Curls — a collaborative project with drummer Cody Rhodes and bassist Luke Baće.
Over a meditative acoustic guitar, Owens contemplates some of life’s biggest questions, before finding solace in the concept of heaven. ”I think about heaven and I smile, I think about heaven and I break into a big grin,” he sings, sounding genuinely at peace.
Owens, who grew up in a travelling religious community, has previously explored religion through his music. ‘I Think About Heaven’, sees him directly reference Psalms 42, as he sings “as the hart panteth after the water brooks / in this way my soul searches for your love.”
You can download the track here.
Following a recent motorcycle accident that left him immobilised, battles with homelessness and the death of his former Girls bandmate Chet “JR” White in 2020, Owens turned to music for respite, referring to songwriting in a press release as his “constant companion”.
Owens announced he was leaving Girls in 2012, and has since released two solo albums — the first being 2013’s ‘Lysandre’, which he shortly followed with a free acoustic version. ‘A New Testament‘, his second solo album, was released in 2014.
In a 2012 interview with NME, he explained his reasons for departing Girls. “When we very first started, we were both very clear that we had a very specific goal for the band and that if it didn’t work out we would end it,” Owens said.
“We jumped in very quickly in the beginning because people liked what we recorded together and put on the internet, so we just put together a live band. We always believed that at some point that we would find the right people and they would stay forever but unfortunately we didn’t.”
Owens’ last solo album ‘Chrissybaby Forever‘ was released in 2015. In a four-star review, NME called the artist “a naturally intuitive pop songwriter”, and said that: “‘Chrissybaby Forever’ is a fresh slice of Californian good vibrations that arrives just in time for summer.”
