“Nos mienten sobre el ayer para que no entendamos el mañana,” is the refrain that sits at the centre of U.S. Girls’ new album, swirling around a concoction of marimbas, oscillating synths and a beat that walks with purpose. The Spanish-sung lyrics, taken from the song And Yet It Moves/Y Se Mueve, translate to “they lie to us about yesterday so that we don’t understand tomorrow”, a musing on the importance of reflection, all the more vital in a polarised society. It’s this notion, to keep one eye on the past to bolster our futures, that is the beating heart of Heavy Light, Meghan Remy’s eighth LP as U.S. Girls.

“Hindsight is a powerful thing. The world is constantly presenting you with ideas – that is, if you’re listening,” explains Remy, as we talk over a glass of wine in a central London tapas restaurant. For her, hindsight is both a cultural and personal phenomena. She has just quit smoking after almost 20 years, she’s doing yoga, going to therapy, and reading In the Shadow of the Silent Majorities by French philosopher Jean Baudrillard. The ongoing journey to self-improvement runs parallel with, intriguingly, a new desire to revisit her previous work. “I feel lucky as an artist to have this huge back catalogue with records that act as physical milestones, that I can pinpoint these important life moments, put some tracks on and know where I was and what four-track tape I had, and how I felt shitty or really fucking great.”

Remy first surfaced as U.S. Girls in 2007, though the Illinois-born, Toronto-based artist was at least four musical projects into her career even then. She started out, aged 15, in a riot grrrl-influenced band named Slut Muffin. She went on to traverse the local band circuit in Chicago, before relocating to Toronto, where she expanded on her growing avant-pop sensibilities. The fuzzy tape-loop experimentations of Remy’s early work – from 2008’s Gravel Days to 2012’s Gem – segued into more accessible but playfully experimental pop and biting, dark disco. This shift culminated in her expansive and celebrated sixth album, Half Free – all with her DIY spirit intact.