“And Your Song is Like a Circle” is the second LP from New York-based artist Skullcrusher, a.k.a. Helen Ballentine. Recorded piecemeal over a period of years following the release of her celebrated 2022 debut, Quiet the Room, “And Your Song Is Like a Circle” does not capture experience – it gestures toward the imprint of an experience that is uncapturable. Swaying between vaporous folk and crystalline electronics, landing somewhere in the snowfields shared by Grouper and Julia Holter, “Circle” probes the ways that grief turns itself inside out. Loss itself becomes as real and substantial as what’s been lost.
The production of “Dragon,” the third single from Skullcrusher’s upcoming album, “And Your Song is Like a Circle“, distinguishes itself from the rest of Helen Ballentine’s discography—similar to “Exhale,” the rare percussion line anchors the song’s tempo, giving it a drive that is typically unsought in Ballentine’s ballads. Typical of many Skullcrusher songs, the lyrics are left to be searched for, hiding behind corners of echoed vocals. which she says she wrote “while thinking about dissociation and how it can feel to be brought back to the ground from this state. Like in Spirited Away when Chihiro begins to disappear in the spirit world she touches Haku’s hand, which pulls her back but then she can’t move her legs. It is a heavy thing to feel the weight of living and pull yourself back to earth. I was interested in the idea of this being a heavy burden but also a necessary aspect of living. It is hopeful but scary as well. Similar to the way armor is a protection but also a burden, either physically or mentally. It’s difficult to protect yourself.”
Ballentine sings in waves of despair, repeating “the weight is heavy” in rounds of harmony and layered vocals. As the song endures, it swells with distortion, and the steady piano lead is trumped by a buzzy synth. Ballentine sings until her repetition goes unnoticed, fusing with the pulsing wall of sound. “Dragon” heralds a new wave of the Skullcrusher sound: passionate, unabashed expression.
Skullcrusher album “And Your Song is Like a Circle” arrives next month
The Fat Angel Sings 