Good morning.
Today we’re listening to Laurel Halo, an electronic music producer from Michigan and based in Los Angeles.1 We’ll cut to the chase and say her new album Atlas is maybe our favorite Flow State album of the year 2023. From the first moment it swaddles the listener in darkly sweet sonic mists, magically fusing digital and analog instrumentation. Laurel herself plays piano, electronics, guitar, vibraphone, violin and vocals, while Bendik Giske contributes saxophone, Lucy Railton cello, and James Underwood violin.2 Atlas is very different from Halo’s other LPs; of the many we could recommend we’ve singled out In Situ, her 2015 dubby, DAW-designed dance album.
Atlas - Laurel Halo (40m, non-intrusive vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal
In Situ - Laurel Halo (40m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal
Have a really nice Wednesday.
She’s come a long way since Quarantine, which was already an exceptional debut, but great to see her continue to evolve. Loving this record.
I saw her playing the entire album at Berlin Atonal some weeks ago. It was so beautiful. She looked like she was in a trance while playing.