Bleep

Samuel Howard’s second album as Halls takes the cathedral electronica of debut album ‘Ark’ and turns it up to eleven, adding mighty post-rock crescendos to his blurry synth-scapes and sparse moody beats. There’s a rough, rural feel to the pieces here, with ‘Forelsket’ (Norwegian for love) doing shoegaze things to Howard’s voice while bass notes lumber and guitars resonate, and the breezy ‘Waves’ throwing in what sounds like steel drums to give those gloomy textures a tropical edge. Over everything Howard mumbles shrill self-assurances, resulting in a record that manages to sound fragile and explosive in equal measure.