Halves: Boa Howl

In 2010, a young Dublin band unveiled It Goes, It Goes (Forever & Ever). A startling record, it seemed to soundtrack the end of the world or hail from a different one entirely. Praise was rightly heaped on Halves’ ambient, post-everything effort and a Choice nomination followed. For the daunting task of following it, the trio decamped to Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenberg and spent two sleepless weeks feeding their new sounds through an analog mixing console once owned by Queen. The result is Boa Howl, another album in the truest sense.
This time, there is more light and shade, and the percussion tightens its grip impressively. The result is thoughtful and immaculate by turns, if lacking the “what dimension did this just arrive from?!” wow factor of the debut. ‘Drumhunter’ is an arresting opener but bears an uncanny resemblance to Radiohead’s ‘Bloom’ in its trundling, jittering rhythm and vocal delivery. That caveat notwithstanding, the first five songs are breathtaking and the arrival of Gemma Hayes’ warm vocals on ‘Tanager Peak’ will doubtless be seen long-term as one of the great musical moments of 2013.
The incursion of Swedish strings and Gregorian chanting lend a spectral quality to the record. Satellite instruments orbit proceedings – piano lines, electronic glitches, glassy flourishes that could have come from Kate Bush’s ‘Army Dreamers’. When guitars surge, they follow Mogwai’s ‘Laws Of Post-Rock’ to a tee, whilst the crackling undercurrent makes Boa Howl sound, in parts, like another interstellar transmission.
The tracklisting suggests the album should be viewed in three parts. If so, the first stuns, the meandering second loses a little steam, and the third is a final push that pays off superbly. Closing with the circular, alien, ‘Let Them Come’, it chooses exactly the right time to explode. Boa Howl is more uneven than Halves’ debut, for sure, but the areas of experimentation may grow in power with greater familiarity. Either way, there are few Irish bands who can operate at this level.

Key Track: 'Tanager Peak'