Laurel Halo

The four songs that form Behind the Green Door are at ease, mostly situated far away from any simple constrictions suggested by genre categorisation. At its most unnecessary moment, Behind the Green Door sounds like overwrought minimalism (think Pantha Du Prince, but groggier). At its best, as on the diffusive grooves of "NOYFB" or "Sexmission," the new Laurel Halo operates implacably. In a recent interview, Halo recalled recording opening track "Throw," assembling the progression upon a monstrously detuned piano found while touring in London, turning the result into an idiosyncratic mission statement for this new record. The Behind the Green Door EP contains some of the most comfortably weird grooves we've heard from Laurel Halo; Halo's obsession with sound design, "finding what really hits people's bodies in the right way," proves to be the central element here. The songs are, as components, more easily interchangeable than the official track order would suggest. It's an unconscious bonus that further advances the overwhelming search for transcendence in exploratory space true experimental artists must engage with daily.