Family roots have always been a creative catalyst for The Garrys. Their 2017 concept album, Surf Manitou, which put them on the Canadian music map was inspired by Manitou Beach, SK, a Maier family vacation spot. On that record, the Maier sisters poke fun at the locales like the Burger Buoy and create stories about a sea monster that lurks in the waters. That same kind of playful nostalgia is present on Get Thee To A Nunnery, but The Garrys also touch on some darker themes like religious freedom or the repetitive stifling of creativity by the Catholic Church.  “We recognized that maybe that wasn’t the best time to be a young woman,” Maier says. “It was a very disciplinarian kind of environment where you had to wear uniforms and go to mass everyday. So how does a girl break loose in that kind of environment? There was a bit of rebellion, like sneaking out to drink beer with boys at other schools or smoking cigarettes behind the chapel.”

“Fallen Woman” with its garage rock chord structure deals with a crisis of faith for a young woman, perhaps being tempted by the big bad Lucifer. “​It’s about being raised one way and family tradition that’s so embedded in Catholicism, but then becoming an adult and realizing that most of it doesn’t actually have value,” Maier says. 

There was also a weird prank where the girls at the nunnery would place a chocolate bar in the stone hands of the Virgin Mary, a memory that makes its way into the “Get Thee To a Nunnery,” animated music video by artist Amery Sandford. The song kicks off the album with an organ that makes the listener envision walking up the steps to a local chapel, but soon drops into a groovy surf inspired doo-wop melody. “She told us about that prank and it seems so innocent so we found it hilarious,” Maier says. “But that was one of the ways the girls would express individuality. It was just a different time.”