Across her ouevre as Circuit des Yeux, Haley Fohr has gradually expanded her sound to match the operatic extents of her spectacular voice. Her last full-length record, 2021’s -io, found her working alongside a 24-piece orchestra to carve the grandest pieces of her career – but also some of her sharpest.
With new album Halo On The Inside, she stretches her sonic universe even further by utilising synths and programmed drums to an extent she hasn’t before – creating echoing ice caverns to fill with her vocal power and awe-inspiring cliff faces to ascend with her range. There are also great atmospheric expanses, in which her words stand tall, the imagery casting long shadows across the pieces. However, she hasn’t forgotten to make it groove, too, with some basslines heretofore unheard of on a Circuit des Yeux album.
While it feels like a natural evolution for the Circuit des Yeux project, Halo On The Inside is undeniably a fairly big sonic evolution, so we wanted to hear from Fohr about the sounds that inspired it. She has provided us with a 12-track primer playlist which is full of goodies – no surprises to see the likes of Fever Ray and Nine Inch Nails in there, and iconic female vocalists like Grace Jones and Laurie Anderson are also clear touchstones. On the more surprising side are techno hero Donato Dozzy and pop princess Charli xcx – it just goes to show the breadth of what’s being covered on Halo On The Inside.
With only a couple of days left until its release, this playlist will put you in the perfect mindset for Halo On The Inside.
But, before you enjoy that, dive into the last teaser from the album in the form of the new Circuit des Yeux single and video “Truth”.
Fohr says: “Thank you, Beats Per Minute, for hosting this fun playlist. The following are songs that I loved and listened to while writing and recording HOTI .”
Halo on the Inside is due out this Friday on Matador Records. You can pre-order the album here. Follow Circuit des Yeux on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
