Quarantine (Laurel Halo album)

Quarantine
Studio album by Laurel Halo
Released May 21, 2012 (2012-05-21)
Recorded July 2011–February 2012
Studio
  • Endless Echo (Brooklyn)
  • So Many Fields (Brooklyn)
  • 4AD (London)
Genre
Length 41:19
Label Hyperdub
Producer Laurel Halo
Laurel Halo chronology
Antenna
(2011)Antenna2011		 Quarantine
(2012)		 Behind the Green Door
(2013)Behind the Green Door2013

Quarantine is the debut album by American electronic musician Laurel Halo, released in 2012 on the Hyperdub label. It received acclaim from critics, and was named release of the year by British magazine The Wire.

Background

Halo recorded Quarantine between July 2011 and February 2012 primarily in her home studio, with some instrument tracks also recorded in London.[4] She made over thirty demos, eighteen of which were deleted.[4] In November 2011, Halo sent the LP demos to Hyperdub label head Steve Goodman, who responded with positive interest.[4]

Initially applying extensive echo and reverb to her vocals, which she found "supremely boring," Halo instead opted to leave them dry and unadorned, stating that "it was tempting to use autotune but I decided against it because there’s this brutal, sensual ugliness in the vocals uncorrected, and painfully human vocals made sense."[4] Speaking to Fact, she described the album's thematic focus as "contrails, trauma, volatile chemicals, viruses."[4][5]

The album cover features an adaptation of Harakiri School Girls, a work by Makoto Aida which Halo chose for the artwork after seeing it at an exhibition on Japanese pop art in New York.[6] She stated that "I love that it’s brutal and violent but colourful and slow to sink in."[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
Drowned in Sound(8/10)[9]
Fact[2]
The Guardian[5]
NME(6/10)[10]
Pitchfork(8/10)[11]
The Quietus(favourable)[12]
Resident Advisor(4/5)[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes[14]

Quarantine received positive critical reviews from critics, with an aggregate score of 80 out of 100 on Metacritic.[7] The Wire named Quarantine as the "release of the year" in its annual critics' poll.[15] Ian Cohen of Pitchfork called the album "something definitive" and Halo's "best and most cohesive work to date."[11] The Quietus called it "one of this year's most intriguing and divisive listens," and noted that "what's blasted her music headlong into the future is its re-integration of those most ancient of musical devices - the unadorned human voice, verse/chorus structures – into environments they’re usually so thoroughly unfamiliar with."[16] The Guardian wrote that "it manages to sidestep pretension at almost every turn, partly due to the near-naive vocals that dominate the warm crackle and glow."[5] Resident Advisor states "Quarantine binds her past sounds into a toxic, lush blend of ambient suspension and disorienting detail," and called the album Halo's "most immersive and beautiful work to date."[13] Tiny Mix Tapes described the album as "conflicted, ambivalent, complex" and praised its sound as that of "new territory being trod."[14]

Track listing

All tracks written by Laurel Halo.

No.TitleLength
1."Airsick"3:58
2."Years"2:52
3."Thaw"5:59
4."Joy"3:27
5."MK Ultra"4:17
6."Wow"1:23
7."Carcass"4:30
8."Holoday"1:50
9."Tumor"2:40
10."Morcom"3:03
11."Nerve"2:31
12."Light + Space"4:49
Total length:41:19

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Quarantine.[17]

  • Laurel Halo – production, recording, mixing, vocals, Wurlitzer electric piano, Access Virus Xl, Akai Ax-60, Akai Mpc 1000, Arp 2600, Elektron Octatrack, Fender Jaguar, Korg Electribe Es-1, Korg Ms-20, Korg Monopoly, Korg Polysix, Mfb Synth Ii, Roland D-50, Roland Juno-106, Roland Sh-101, Yamaha Cs-80
  • Zeljko McMullen – mixing
  • Jason Goz – mastering
  • Makoto Aida – artwork
  • Kei Miyajima – photography
  • Manuel Sepulveda – layout

References

  1. ↑ Daly, Aidan. "Dust by Laurel Halo / Album Review". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 Shaw, Steve (4 June 2012). "Laurel Halo: Quarantine". Fact. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Cliff, Aimee. "Laurel Halo is Having More Fun". The Fader. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Foxx, Trilby. "Laurel Halo on working with Hyperdub and the pursuit of "sensual ugliness"". Fact. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Nicholson, Rebecca (31 May 2012). "Laurel Halo: Quarantine – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Pelly, Jenn (13 June 2012). "Take Cover: Laurel Halo: Quarantine". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Quarantine by Laurel Halo". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  8. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Quarantine – Laurel Halo". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Bychawski, Adam (21 June 2012). "Laurel Halo – Quarantine". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Gardner, Noel (25 May 2012). "Laurel Halo – 'Quarantine'". NME. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  11. 1 2 Cohen, Ian (7 June 2012). "Laurel Halo: Quarantine". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  12. ↑ Gibb, Rory (23 May 2012). "Reviews: Laurel Halo". The Quietus. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  13. 1 2 Miller, Derek (21 June 2012). "Laurel Halo – Quarantine". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  14. 1 2 Parker, Hames (May 2012). "Quarantine - Laurel Halo". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  15. ↑ "2012 Rewind: Releases of the Year 1–50". The Wire. No. 347. London. January 2013. p. 32 – via Exact Editions.
  16. ↑ The Quietus | News | INTERVIEW: Laurel Halo
  17. ↑ Quarantine (LP liner notes). Laurel Halo. Hyperdub. 2012. HDBLP014.
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