Led by Lushane Aubrey, The Girlfriends Club is an independent alternative R&B and soul project known for creating aesthetic, emotion-driven tracks. What began as an alter ego imagining intimacy has grown into a deeply personal musical world. Through electric guitar, alternative R&B and the Marjorie EP, The Girlfriends Club is tracing the distance between desire, infatuation and genuine connection.
The Girlfriends Club offers another answer to what contemporary South African music can sound like beyond the genres currently dominating its international image. More importantly, Aubrey is building more than a collection of songs: songwriting, production, visual identity, live performance and audience community are being organised around one emotional idea. The progression from imagined intimacy to autobiographical love also gives the catalogue something emerging artists do not always establish this early — a narrative.
There is a revealing contradiction at the centre of The Girlfriends Club.
The early music imagined experiences. Marjorie began living inside them.
Listen casually and you might encounter songs built around desire, intimacy, longing and the complicated push and pull between two people. Spend longer inside the project, though, and something softer begins to emerge.
Behind it is Lushane Aubrey, an artist who describes himself simply as “a sucker for deep connection and real love.”
That distinction matters because The Girlfriends Club did not begin as straightforward autobiography. It began, in part, as an imagined world.
“The Girlfriends Club, to me, is more than just a band,” Aubrey explains. “It’s a creative world and a brand.”
The “club” represents a collective, but also an emotional space: somewhere listeners can recognise themselves and express love without the usual restraints. The project was initially shaped through an alter ego, with Aubrey writing songs about feelings and relationships he imagined experiencing with a person who did not actually exist.
That premise gave him freedom. Songs including “Adore You”, “The More You Give, The More I Take” and “Nervous” could exist inside experiences he envisioned rather than ones he had necessarily lived.
But somewhere along the way, imagination caught up with reality.
When the fantasy became real
That shift is clearest on the Marjorie EP.
Unlike the earlier material, Marjorie was written and dedicated to someone genuinely significant in Aubrey’s life. Suddenly, the feelings The Girlfriends Club had spent time imagining were no longer hypothetical.
“The Marjorie EP became a project where I experienced everything I have been writing about,” he says.
It fundamentally changes how the wider catalogue can be heard.
The Girlfriends Club's earlier songs often circle physical attraction, desire and infatuation. Marjorie moves closer towards confession and commitment — towards openly telling another person: this is what I feel, and this is what I want.
Musically, that evolution has also widened the project's language. While tracks including “u get me high”, “The More You Give, The More I Take” and “Adore You” sit closer to R&B and soul, Marjorie brings more indie and funk into the mix through groovier production.
More importantly, perfection is becoming less interesting.
Aubrey has begun hearing the small imperfections left inside recordings differently. Instead of automatically treating them as problems to remove, he sees something human in them.
“Mistakes, honesty and rawness in music” have become, for him, some of the most beautiful parts of writing and producing.
The guitar came first
Long before The Girlfriends Club had a name, there was a guitar.
It is difficult to separate the instrument from the project because, for Aubrey, the connection predates the music he is releasing now.
He grew up in a musical family. His grandfather played in a band with his brothers, guitars were already part of the environment around him, and the instrument became one of his earliest ways into music.
It also became something considerably more personal.
Through good periods, heartbreak and sadness, Aubrey describes the guitar as a constant — a way of converting emotions that felt difficult to explain into something sonic.
For a long time, it was simply his guitar and his voice. Singing arrived almost accidentally when, while playing, he decided to try it.
That history explains why the electric guitar occupies so much space inside The Girlfriends Club's sound today. It is not being added as decoration to an R&B record. It is part of the emotional vocabulary of the project.
“The electric guitar has its own emotion and personality,” he says.
There is another quality he likes about it too: tension.
The guitar can sound seductive, unresolved, almost conversational — amplifying exactly the sensations of yearning and longing around which so much of The Girlfriends Club has been constructed.
“Adore You” found the identity
Among the songs released so far, “Adore You” holds a particularly important position.
It was The Girlfriends Club's first release, but that alone is not why it matters.
There had been other songs before it. They could have been released first. Instead, “Adore You” became the record Aubrey felt genuinely proud enough to use as an introduction.
It helped define what The Girlfriends Club could sound and feel like.
At its centre is an admission of love without the assurance that it will ever be returned: even if you do not feel the same way, allow me to admire you from where I am.
For an artist interested in the line separating lust, infatuation and genuine affection, it is an important statement.
“Adore You” is richer in instrumentation, backing vocals and emotional vulnerability than much of the surrounding material. Aubrey describes it as having more of a “lover boy” sensibility — and believes its sincerity may explain why listeners repeatedly identify it as a favourite.
The sonic references surrounding the project are broad but recognisable. Aubrey points towards Steve Lacey, D’Angelo, Daniel Caesar, RINI, The Weeknd and Michael Jackson as artists who helped shape his early musical instincts, with R&B's intimacy, instrumentation and obsession with love particularly central to the sound he developed.
Yet The Girlfriends Club does not seem particularly interested in remaining inside one neatly labelled genre.
That may prove important.
An alternative South African possibility
South African music's global visibility has created extraordinary opportunities, but international conversations about the country's music can still flatten a much wider ecosystem into whichever genres happen to dominate at a particular moment.
The Girlfriends Club sees space beyond that.
“There’s definitely a lot of sounds that South African artists have to offer that goes underrated,” Aubrey says.
His ambition is not to abandon where he comes from, but to complicate assumptions about what an artist from South Africa is expected to sound like.
He wants the response to eventually become: this artist is South African — and this sound is something different.
It is an interesting ambition for a project whose musical language already moves through alternative R&B, soul, indie and funk rather than anchoring itself to a single dominant local movement.
Doing that independently, however, means assuming far more than the role of musician.
The Girlfriends Club is largely controlled by Aubrey in the studio: writing, producing and composing without having to translate an idea through multiple intermediaries. Knowing the instruments himself means an emotion can move directly from his head into a recording, then be rearranged repeatedly until it feels right.
That independence also extends beyond music.
There is the image, release strategy, audience-building and the larger question of how to make people encounter the work in the first place.
“It’s not just about writing songs,” he says. “It’s about getting it across.”
TikTok and Instagram have become particularly valuable in that process, giving independent musicians direct routes towards audiences without surrendering the creative control that made independence attractive in the first place.
From one person to a room full of people
On stage, however, The Girlfriends Club deliberately becomes less solitary.
A supporting live band brings guitar, bass, drums and keys into the songs, with each musician encouraged to contribute something of their own rather than simply reproducing the studio recording note-for-note.
That makes the live versions less fixed.
The essence remains, but individual musicians get space to leave fingerprints on the performance.
The intended atmosphere is equally specific. A Girlfriends Club show should be somewhere you can take your partner, hear the songs differently, sing to each other and participate in the intimacy rather than merely observe it.
The goal is a room that feels warm, romantic and slightly sensual — an extension of the world already being constructed on record.
That world may soon extend beyond music too. Alongside upcoming releases, branded The Girlfriends Club merchandise is being planned as another way of connecting the project with the people gathering around it.
But the most interesting thing The Girlfriends Club is building cannot really be worn.
It is the emotional progression taking place across the catalogue.
The early music imagined experiences. Later music began living inside them. Songs moved through attraction and desire towards something increasingly vulnerable. The alter ego gradually gave way to the person behind it.
And if there is one feeling listeners are supposed to carry out of this universe, it is not simply romance.
It is an understanding of the differences between lust, infatuation and the more difficult thing beyond both: genuine connection.
“To experience the feeling of love, infatuation and genuine connection,” Aubrey says of what he hopes listeners ultimately take from the music.
For The Girlfriends Club, that transition may be the story itself.
Reporting basis: Original Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey of The Girlfriends Club, covering the project’s alter-ego origins, creative identity, electric-guitar language, songwriting and production, Adore You, the Marjorie EP, independent artist development, live performance and future plans. Release metadata was independently checked against The Girlfriends Club’s public Spotify and Apple Music catalogue. “Adore You” was released on 17 May 2024, while Marjorie was released on 30 January 2026 as a four-track EP.
Story index Key points, people & topics
Key points & topics
- Led by Lushane Aubrey, The Girlfriends Club is an independent alternative R&B and soul project where electric guitar, imagined intimacy and the deeply personal Marjorie EP trace the distance between desire, infatuation and...
- The Girlfriends Club began with Lushane Aubrey writing from an alter ego about relationships that did not exist. Then real love caught up with the fantasy. Through electric guitar, alternative R&B and the Marjorie EP, he is...
- Lushane Aubrey opens up about The Girlfriends Club, Marjorie, electric guitar and building an independent South African alternative R&B world.
Frequently asked Answers from the desk
Who is The Girlfriends Club?
The Girlfriends Club is an independent South African alternative R&B and soul project led creatively by Lushane Aubrey.
Who is Lushane Aubrey?
Lushane Aubrey is the songwriter producer composer and central creative force behind The Girlfriends Club.
Is The Girlfriends Club a band or a solo project?
Aubrey describes it as more than a band and as a creative world and brand. He largely controls the music in the studio while a supporting band expands the songs during live performances.
Why is it called The Girlfriends Club?
Aubrey says club refers to a collective and an emotional world where listeners can relate to the music and express love without limits.
Did The Girlfriends Club begin as an alter ego?
Yes. Aubrey says several early songs were written through an alter ego imagining romantic experiences with a person who did not actually exist.
What genre is The Girlfriends Club?
The project moves primarily through alternative R&B and soul while also incorporating indie funk pop and guitar-led influences.
Why is electric guitar important to The Girlfriends Club?
Aubrey grew up around guitars in a musical family and describes the instrument as an emotional constant throughout his life. He uses its tension and expressiveness as a central part of the project's sound.
What was The Girlfriends Club's first release?
Adore You was the project's first official release and arrived on 17 May 2024.
Why is Adore You important to The Girlfriends Club?
Aubrey says it was the first song he was genuinely proud of and the record that helped establish the project's sound and identity.
What is Adore You about?
It centres on loving and admiring somebody even without certainty that those feelings will be returned.
How we reported this Sources, verification & accountability
- Reporting type
- Feature
- Verification
- Direct interview
- Reporter / responsible desk
- Viranova Music Desk
- Primary evidence
- Original Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey of The Girlfriends Club, covering the project’s alter-ego origins, creative identity, electric-guitar language, songwriting and production, Adore You, the Marjorie EP, independent artist development, live performance and future plans. Release metadata was independently checked against The Girlfriends Club’s public Spotify and Apple Music catalogue. “Adore You” was released on 17 May 2024, while Marjorie was released on 30 January 2026 as a four-track EP.
- Additional verification
- The central reporting comes directly from Viranova’s interview with Lushane Aubrey rather than third-party profiles. Aubrey describes The Girlfriends Club as a creative world and brand, explains that its earliest songs were written through an alter ego, and identifies Marjorie as the point where he began writing from a relationship he had actually experienced. His interview also establishes the electric guitar as a family and personal inheritance, identifies Steve Lacy, D’Angelo, Daniel Caesar, RINI, The Weeknd and Michael Jackson as formative influences, and explains why independence allows him to control writing, production, presentation and audience-building. Apple Music lists Marjorie as a four-track EP released on 30 January 2026, comprising “get close 2 me”, “we’ll b fine”, “right 4 me” and “take me away”. Spotify confirms “Adore You” as The Girlfriends Club’s 17 May 2024 debut release.
- Image
- The Girlfriends Club · Supplied
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Filed by Viranova Music Desk for the Music desk · South Africa. Published 09 Sept 2026.
Sources
Primary material
Viranova obtained, attended or witnessed this directly.
- Lushane Aubrey describes The Girlfriends Club as more than a band and as a creative world brand and potential movement Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says the club represents a collective and a sonic world where people can express love without limits physically sexually and emotionally Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says the project began partly as an alter ego in which he wrote about a person and romantic experiences that did not actually exist Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says he writes produces and composes the project himself and that his knowledge of different instruments gives him direct creative control over the sound Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says guitar has been a constant emotional outlet throughout his life and that his grandfather played in a band with his brothers Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says the electric guitar is central to The Girlfriends Club because of its emotional personality and its ability to create yearning longing and tension Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey identifies Steve Lacy D'Angelo Daniel Caesar RINI The Weeknd and Michael Jackson among his formative musical influences Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says Adore You was The Girlfriends Club's first release and the first song he felt sufficiently proud of to introduce the project with Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey describes Adore You as an admission of love even without reciprocation and says it helped establish The Girlfriends Club's identity and sound Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says Marjorie was written and dedicated to someone significant in his life and became the point where he experienced what earlier songs had only imagined Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says Marjorie moves towards confession and commitment while bringing more indie and funk influence into the project's R&B and soul foundation Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says he increasingly values mistakes honesty and rawness as some of the most beautiful parts of writing and producing music Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says his live supporting musicians add their own character to the arrangements and that Girlfriends Club performances should feel intimate romantic and sensual Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says South African artists create a much wider range of sounds than the genres most commonly associated with the country internationally Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says independence gives him control of his image music brand and presentation while TikTok and Instagram have helped him grow an audience Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey says branded The Girlfriends Club merchandise is being planned as part of the project's next chapter Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
- Aubrey wants listeners to experience and distinguish love infatuation and genuine connection through the evolution of The Girlfriends Club catalogue Viranova interview with Lushane Aubrey / The Girlfriends Club · Verified Viranova original information accessed 9 September 2026
Secondary material
Reported first by another publication or organisation, and credited here.
- Spotify lists Adore You as a 3 minute 8 second single by The Girlfriends Club released on 17 May 2024 Spotify accessed 9 September 2026
- Apple Music lists Marjorie as a four-song EP by The Girlfriends Club released on 30 January 2026 Apple Music accessed 9 September 2026
- Apple Music lists get close 2 me we'll b fine right 4 me and take me away as the four songs on Marjorie Apple Music accessed 9 September 2026
- Apple Music confirms the project's 2024 catalogue includes Adore You Nervous The More You Give The More I Take nside of u u get me high and can we make love tonight Apple Music accessed 9 September 2026
- Verve Magazine identified Marjorie among notable 2026 releases and highlighted the funky instrumental character of the EP Verve Magazine accessed 9 September 2026
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