Can the members of GIRLYMAN read each other's minds? Sometimes it seems so. Onstage they often finish each other's sentences or burst into improvised three-part ditties so tight they seem rehearsed. Truth is, the Atlanta-based trio has had years to develop this rapport. They came together as a band in 2001 in Brooklyn, influenced by 60s vocal groups like Simon & Garfunkel and The Mamas and the Papas, and infused with years of classical and jazz training.

"Really good, really unexpected, and really different" is how Village Voice describes Girlyman’s lyric driven folk-pop. But that can also describe the year that inspired their fifth studio album Supernova, which released June 19th. "A supernova is a dying star,” explains Girlyman member Doris Muramatsu, who was diagnosed with leukemia in late 2010. After 10 years building from early days in tiny coffeehouses, through long opening runs with the Indigo Girls and Dar Williams, all the way to festival main stages and the country’s premier acoustic venues, they suddenly feared for its future. “I was in the hospital getting blood transfusions and chemotherapy,” Doris continues. “We cancelled a month of tours and thought that was it.”

An autobiography of this unique time for the band, Supernova’s thirteen songs resonate with themes of uncertainty, transformation and, as always, hope. Says Doris: “Nate had written a song called ‘Supernova’ that kept going through my head all throughout my stay in the hospital. It wasn’t written about me, but it helped me get through that time." She later looked up the definition of ‘supernova’ and discovered that, while it is a dying star, it also gives birth to new stars. Indeed, nine months after her diagnosis, Muramatsu’s cancer went into remission and the band was reborn. “As difficult as it was, I wouldn’t trade the experience – it got us where we are now.” Mixed by Grammy Award winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn), and featuring guest appearances by the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers among others, Supernova is Girlyman's first album to include the kinetic percussion of newest member and former Po' Girl drummer, JJ Jones.