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Haelos’ (pronounced “Halos”) first full album, “Full Circle,” shows that despite some minor flaws, there is always a place for downtempo, beat-focused, electronic blues songs in my life and this album fits that oddly specific bill perfectly.
At first listen, the band sounds impeccably similar to The Xx, with a dichotomy of vocals on each track—one male, one female—that lends itself immediately to comparison. Much like The Xx, each song on this album is simple and clean, each stays for exactly long as it needs to and have a darkly mysterious nature to them—all the while blending the haziness of an Xx song with traditional house stylings. It’s incredible, really, to see such a unique and refined sound come from a band’s first album, and that only plays into their favor
“Intro/Spectrum” is a near two-minute-long loading screen into the rest of the album, presenting a spoken word track about the concept of love—a common theme on the rest of the tracks on the LP. It flows perfectly into “Pray,” which begins with the aforementioned dual vocals that immediately kick into an entrancing bridge that carries us the rest of the way to “Dust,” a much more refined track in comparison, but strong nonetheless.
The title track, “Full Circle,” holds nothing back—blending the spoken word aspects of “Intro” with soaring vocals, a strong contrast between both the male and female voice, synth and a particularly alluring bassline. It’s a high energy track that proves the capability of this band, and one that I am particularly fond of.
The debut full-length from London's Haelos is an emotive journey through the planes of love, faith, and faith in love. Recalling the mood of classic '90s trip-hop and electronica with updated precision, Full Circle floods the senses with atmospheric texture and expansive soundscapes. Unfortunately, though, Haelos can’t maintain their early stratospheric standard, and the rest of ‘Full Circle’ is far more pedestrian fare. While not fatal, that dip in quality is anticlimactic: as each track drifts by in a haze of breakbeat, dual vocals and space echo, positioning Haelos more. Album review HAELOS. Share on facebook Tweet on twitter. Andrew Ledford Post navigation. Just Like Heaven 2019 throws it back to golden age of indie rock. HAELOS – Full Circle Posted by Paul Page on Mar 19, 2016 in Album Review, Ambient/Electronica 0 comments For a band that started out with an accidental marketing campaign shrouded in mystery and curiosity, HAELOS have, in the past year, stripped themselves of their anonymity, signed to Matador Records and recorded their debut LP, Full Circle.
“Earth Not Above” combines the distant lyrics of a SPC ECO song with a Boards of Canada-inspired production, creating an aesthetically interesting piece of music that unfortunately sinks behind the power of “Full Circle” and the incredibly fun, house-inspired track “Oracle,” which takes the crown for my personal favorite song on the album.
Unfortunately, “Alone” and “Separate Lives” failed to make any meaningful impression, and frankly felt like they could have just been one, long and not particularly interesting track. The same can be said for “Sacred” and “Cloud Nine,” which simply play it safe using what tools they have established in the first half of the album.
Thankfully, the final track “Pale” manages to make up for the middling tracks with a gut-punch of a hook that literally comes from nowhere and fights to ensure that this album isn’t forgotten.
Ultimately, “Full Circle” is a particularly promising first album from Haelos, and I’m looking forward to where they go from here. “Full Circle” is available now through Matador Records, on iTunes and streaming on Spotify.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
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| Background information | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, United Kingdom |
| Genres | |
| Labels | Matador Infectious |
| Website | haelos.com |
| Members |
|
Hælos (frequently stylized as HÆLOS, and sometimes as Haelos or HAELOS) are a British trip hop band from London.
Hælos's first single, 'Dust' was released in 2014, and the group followed in 2015 with the singles 'Pray' and 'Earth Not Above'.[1] After signing to Matador Records in 2015, they released the Earth Not Above EP, which was followed in early 2016 with a full-length entitled Full Circle. Full Circle reached number 5 on the US Billboard electronic charts and number 20 on the Heatseekers chart.[2] Their music has been described as 'dark euphoria'.[3]
In January 2019, alongside the release of Kyoto, the band announced their second album, titled Any Random Kindness,[4] would be released on 10 May the same year.[5]
Discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
- Full Circle (2016)
- Any Random Kindness (2019)[6]
Extended plays[edit]
- Earth Not Above (2015)
Singles[edit]
- 'Dust', 2014
- 'Pray', 2015
- 'Earth Not Above', 2015
- 'Buried in the Sand', 2018
- 'Kyoto', 2019
- 'Boy / Girl', 2019
- 'End of World Party (Edit)', 2019
References[edit]
Haelos Review Any Random Kindness
- ^'Hælos - Biography & History'. AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^'Artist Search for 'hælos''. AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^'HÆLOS - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)'. YouTube. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^'Any Random Kindness - Hælos - Songs, Reviews, Credits'. AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^Leas, Ryan (23 January 2019). 'HÆLOS – 'Kyoto' Video'. Stereogum.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
- ^'Hælos - Album Discography'. AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
External links[edit]
- Official website
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