Glitterfox has had a very eventful 13 years to say the least. Shortly after guitarist Andrea Walker encountered French Basque vocalist Solange Igoa at a party, the songwriters packed their music into a van and toured backyards and house parties along the West Coast. Eventually, the two married, moved to Portland and invited bassist Eric Stalker and drummer Blaine Heinonen into the band.
“Glitterfox is definitely this chronicle of our life together,” Walker says, adding that the Glitterfox discography is a firsthand account of their love and difficulties from both of their songwriting perspectives.
Today, with over 90,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, Glitterfox is now bigger than ever. Aside from becoming an Oregon Country Fair staple — having performed on the Main Stage three times — they have signed with independent label Jealous Butcher and acquired Chris Funk of Portland indie-rock band The Decemberists as their manager. They are currently on tour promoting their newest album Decoder, and will perform at WOW Hall Oct. 29.
“I’m so stoked about the songs,” Walker says. They started recording Decoder in September 2024, and, “we’ve really been working our tails off for the past couple years here.” With indie pop-rock elements and introspective themes sung through Igoa’s raspy Stevie Nicks-esque voice, Decoder leans into a sound that experiments with what disco would have sounded like if it survived into the ’80s but had a major makeover. Walker says that the final product achieves the band’s goal of being “uniquely Glitterfox,” which is “a sound that nobody else in the world makes.”
The album deals with themes such as personal growth, becoming self-aware, and, in the song “Polaroids,” Walker coming to terms with her autism diagnosis at age 41.
The album was not without its fair share of challenges. Once the band recorded their second out of three sessions, Igoa and Walker divorced after 12 years of marriage.
“We broke up on tour, so then we had to keep playing shows together,” Walker says. They then had one month off before “heading straight to the recording studio.” Their divorce was finalized after the second recording session, “and we had to go in the studio like two weeks later,” Walker says.
Recording together for the third session “was challenging, and definitely very, very emotional. A lot of raw feelings for sure,” Walker says. “It’s challenging to break up and then to keep working together.”
Walker, who wrote nine of the 11 tracks on the album (and wrote them all before the separation), says that she only writes about what’s going on in her life. When it comes to the more emotional songs that appear on Decoder, such as “Wildfires,” “Gamma Ray” and “Not Fade Away,” she realizes that in hindsight, “these songs are definitely foreshadowing a breakup.” She also acknowledges that Igoa’s tracks do the same.
“Solange [Igoa] wrote the song ‘Change Me.’ And that has definitely got this theme of self knowledge and personal growth,” Walker says. “I think that is one of the themes that’s in there that is certainly foreshadowing the end of the relationship.”
Performing songs about the difficulties and triumphs of her relationship with Igoa — and performing them with Igoa — Walker says that “sometimes it feels emotional,” but “most of the time I’m not really thinking about the relationship, I’m just thinking about the song. And I still love all of these songs.”
Walker says the split was mutual, and the two are working hard to keep the creative partnership going. “A lot of times when you break up with someone, you can take a break. You might not see them for months,” Walker says, “but my ability to pay my bills is tied with Solange. That’s how Solange pays their bills. We’ve been making a living from the band for 10 years now.” For that reason, along with their joint passion for the art, “We have to find a way forward.”
Though Igoa is no stranger to Stevie Nicks comparisons, and Walker welcomes being likened to Lindsey Buckingham, she makes it clear that their similarities to Fleetwood Mac stop there. “I like to think that we’re not quite as fucked up as they were,” Walker says. “Their heart was not in it a lot of the time, and they were having trouble getting along.” She adds that “I don’t want that kind of dynamic. I want to get along with Solange. We don’t have to be best friends, but we can be respectful bandmates.”
Over the last 12 years, Walker says “Sometimes the band kept us together as a couple, sometimes us as a couple kept the band together.” But now, as a quartet with a manager and label, “We were in a place where we had enough of a team built around us that we didn’t need the couple anymore.”
As far as the team goes, Walker says that they have all been supportive and understanding through the change in dynamic to create Decoder, the first album that all four members of the band contributed to, and their first signed with their label. “It’s kind of like our debut,” Walker says. They released an EP in 2022 entitled Night.
As Glitterfox goes on tour, Walker says WOW Hall is one of the venues they are looking forward to the most. “If Portland is our home, Eugene is our second home. Solange and I started playing in Eugene ten years ago.” She says that the WOW Hall “is one that I’ve wanted to play for a very long time. I’m really excited that they’re going to be hosting us.” The Oct. 29 concert is their Halloween show, so Walker says “wear your costumes — we definitely will be.”
Glitterfox performs 8 pm Wednesday, Oct. 29 at WOW Hall. Doors 7 pm. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and are available at WowHall.org.