Photo by Georg Gatas
Laurel Halo, whose Quarantine full-length was one of the Quietus’ favourite albums of last year, has announced the release of a new EP. Entitled Behind The Green Door, it’s her most substantial release since that album – featuring four tracks of rhythm driven, crystalline techno – and will be released through London’s Hyperdub label on 20th May.
As the label point out, it touches on ideas she began exploring on earlier EPs such as 2011’s excellent Hour Logic, but with some of the heat-haze evaporated to leave clearer, more club focused beats, albeit shrouded in her usual, ahem, halo of transient harmonic flickers and turbulent background ambience.
"The rugged, minimal grooves on display point a new direction and shift in sound," reads the text accompanying the EP’s release. "These four tracks are hardware-only affairs developed from her live set, built from a kit focused on dancefloor-ready rhythms, enveloping bass, psychedelic detail and lush harmony. On ‘BTGD’, Detroit Techno influence from her Michigan upbringing shines in tandem with stylistic nods towards contemporary UK club music; at times cold, lush, sinister and elated, the EP is a meditative rush of exploratory dancefloor electronics."
Behind The Green Door‘s tracklist runs as follows:
‘Throw’
‘UHFFO’
‘NOYFB’
‘Sex Mission’
In addition, Hyperdub have offered a pair of tickets for a Quietus reader to attend Halo’s show in London next week, which takes place on Thursday 25th April, and finds her playing on a bill alongside an impressive cast of other acts: Kassem Mosse, Lee Gamble, PAN boss Bill Kouligas and Untold. One lucky winner will receive a pair of tickets to the show, and one runner-up will win a Hyperdub t-shirt.
To enter, just email info@hyperdub.net, with ‘Quietus Comp’ in the subject line, with an answer to the following question:
Q: Which Detroit satellite city does Laurel Halo hail from?
