HALO, LAUREL - Sunlight On The Faded

Following on from her much-lauded debut album "Quarantine" on Hyperdub released earlier in the year, Laurel Halo concludes both the year and the drama explored in "Quarantine" with this new single "Sunlight On The Faded". Where "Quarantine" was dense and beatless, layered and visceral with vocals cutting through intense soundscapes, "Sunlight On The Faded" is energized and geometric, with lush chords built around hard, sparse drums and Laurel's harmonized vocals. The claustrophobic motifs explored on "Quarantine" remain, but here they are turned inside out, incandescent and fleeting. Choked samples and illusory FX support the vocal phrases, the lyrics hinting at a resolution from the pain of the album's themes, and a hopefulness too. The b-side dub is a deep exploration, again reflecting the soundscapes of "Quarantine" but ramping up the intensity with simultaneously tense and lithe drum patterns. The chords of the original are broken by gaseous blooms, distortion detail work and rhythmic FX, allowing them to breathe and bounce in and out of the track, pivoting around a sinister, bassy dub techno pulse. Like the original take, the dub version is equal parts dark and positive, both ideal for late nights and early mornings. Style: Dubstep