Laurel Halo

Laurel Halo is either wildly fearless or wittingly self-sabotaging. After gaining a degree of acclaim for her 2010 debut EP, the Brooklyn, NY producer adopted the gender-bending moniker of King Felix for her follow-up before ditching her warm microhouse vibes for the metallic dissonance of 2012's Quarantine. On her second full-length, Halo continues to shed her digital skin, with Chance of Rain moving further into the ether, stripping away any semblance of twisted songcraft she may have been grasping onto. Her second instrumental release of 2013 (after May's Behind the Green Door EP) shows Halo focusing more on beat propulsion and layered atmospherics, as tracks like "Oneiroib" and "Ainnome" veer unpredictably though several rhythm and mood cycles while utilizing little more than metallic percussion to accent her brittle break beats. As exemplified by album opener "Dr. Echt" and closer "-Out," each featuring Bill Evans-on-Brainfeeder piano musings, Chain of Rain is essentially Laurel's attempt at a classic techno release. Halo's music has never felt beholden to nostalgia or thematic consistency, leaving Chance of Rain as a shining example of an artist striving to operate within a creative vacuum.