North London three-piece, Girl Ray, have released a new cover of Sophie Ellis Bextor’s 2000’s floor-filler, ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’. Comprised of Poppy Hankin, Iris McConnell and Sophie Moss, the band have been performing what they’ve described as the “perfect pop song” as part of their set live set since festival season. Now, they’ve given it the studio treatment. All proceeds from the cover will be donated to a local charity, Hackney Night Shelter.
In a statement, Girl Ray explained why they’ve decided to breathe new life into an old classic: “‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ has always had a special place in our hearts – it was forever etched into our memory when a few years back at a post-show karaoke session in Bristol, I over-excitedly shoved the microphone to Iris’ lips when it was finally our turn to sing, chipping her front tooth in half for the remainder of the tour.”
Ever since that first karaoke session, Girl Ray have had an intimate relationship with the track, calling it a “favourite at our DJ sets”. As they went on to explain: “When we were looking for a song to cover for this year’s festival seasons, it seemed a natural fit. It became one of our favourite parts of our live set, and we thought it would be only right to record it in honour of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s truly perfect pop song.”
Girl Ray’s new cover has been released alongside a DIY video, which sees Hankin, McConnell, Sophie Moss at an awkward Christmas party that would make even Ricky Gervais’ toes curl. You can check it out below. Of the video, the band said: “We’ve always wanted to work together in an office; I think we’re secretly middle-aged office workers at heart. None of us have been to an office party but they sound really fun so we decided to recreate one for our video.”
As Girl Ray went on to explain, the video – directed by Hankin herself – was created entirely off their own backs. “Poppy seemed really excited about her new ‘gimbal’ she’d bought for her iPhone,” they began, “So we decided to let her film, direct, and edit the whole video. We couldn’t find any actual offices to make the video in, so Moshi Moshi reluctantly let us use their workspace for it. Hopefully, after they see the video they’ll take us on full time”.
The cover arrives after Sophie Ellis-Bextor managed to raise over £1million through her 24-hour charity dance marathon.
