HÆLOS
Full Circle
Reviewed by: Tiffany Taylor
HÆLOS, a beautiful and cryptic London trio, has decided to unveil their debut album Full Circle. An album full of feelings that shadow darkness and gray clouds over hypnotic music. They channel the inner beauty of sadness and radiate it through breathless voice and electronic background noise. Their audience is certainly anyone who can be transported to the back of the club, spilling their drink, thinking of their ex lover. Singer Lotti Benardout puts it like this, “It’s the music you put on after the club, you can still feel that energy and euphoria, but it might bring you back to reflect on certain moments or memories.” Personally it is hard for me to put it into better words as the 11-track album takes its listeners somewhere sleepy yet thriving: a contradiction so sweet, you can not stop moving or listening to the beat.
The album opens with an intro, a monologue that relates to any soul feeling some sort of darkness in their life. Their sound has been referred to as “dark euphoria,” a feeling deep and unlike something that can be transcended into words. Moving into “Pray” listeners can feel Benardout’s pleas falling gracefully over the drumbeats. The repetition of dance beats is always counteracted with something to take the edge off. Whether that be simple voice reverb or casual bass and drum pulses, something is always there to bring peace in an uncomfortable feeling.
The album is full of relatable moments most of us can admit to feeling. Each song could be heard at the party, the dress store, the back of the cab, and each time it will provoke something we may have been running from. Songs like “Dust” and “Oracle” do exactly that. Letting the body move but also allowing protruding thoughts to creep in like smoke. I believe it is interesting to say the least that although each track has a similar vibe and sound, each possesses a different aura.
The goal of this album was to unleash emotion, emotions that live in the dark caves of our soul. Full Circle is a pop album that breaks boundaries of its genre. Delaney, HAELOS’ main lyrical contributor says this perfectly: “We all have a shared human experience. As much as we try to run away from feelings with all the distractions around us, they always follow us around. They’re a constant thing that unites us all.” With the sound of three individuals coming together, we are opted to hearing their stories and catching a glimpse of what it means to feel again.
Rating: Listenable
