On Tuesday (October 29), left-field techno purveyor Laurel Halo (real name Ina Cube) followed up 2012's Exclaim!-approved Quarantine with Chance of Rain. Cube's sophomore LP follows the same skeletal path set out by Behind the Green Door, the four-track EP the Brooklyn-via-Ann Arbor producer released back in May, which ditched the cacophonic, inimitable vocals that helped define Quarantine.
Speaking to Exclaim!, Cube asserts that the vocals on her last album were "project specific"; the tracks that make up Chance of Rain were recorded live in concert before she took the recordings into the studio to add overdubs.
"After recording the stems, there was quite a bit of post processing in the studio, in the sense of changing the drum timbres, changing the order of events, adding melody or harmony, working with software and outboard gear," she explains.
While Quarantine's attention-grabbing album cover featured images of Japanese schoolgirls cheerfully committing harakiri, Chance of Rain follows suit with its own grim art: a piece her father created in the 1970s. Cube admits that her father's work was a "big inspiration" beyond just the cover; it changed her perception of art from an early age.
"He's done a lot of landscapes, both of nature and industrial scenes. As I got older I started to gain an appreciation for the fact that his pieces have this amazing sense of light and proportion."
Describing his distinctive style, Cube continues, "He has depictions of areas in Detroit and Cleveland that imbue such a sense of hope. Giant maple seedlings teetering on the edge of mountains with some woman despairingly holding on, these forever landscapes and skies. It's amazing what he does."
To see the cover for Chance of Rain, out now via Hyperdub, read our review of the album here.
Speaking to Exclaim!, Cube asserts that the vocals on her last album were "project specific"; the tracks that make up Chance of Rain were recorded live in concert before she took the recordings into the studio to add overdubs.
"After recording the stems, there was quite a bit of post processing in the studio, in the sense of changing the drum timbres, changing the order of events, adding melody or harmony, working with software and outboard gear," she explains.
While Quarantine's attention-grabbing album cover featured images of Japanese schoolgirls cheerfully committing harakiri, Chance of Rain follows suit with its own grim art: a piece her father created in the 1970s. Cube admits that her father's work was a "big inspiration" beyond just the cover; it changed her perception of art from an early age.
"He's done a lot of landscapes, both of nature and industrial scenes. As I got older I started to gain an appreciation for the fact that his pieces have this amazing sense of light and proportion."
Describing his distinctive style, Cube continues, "He has depictions of areas in Detroit and Cleveland that imbue such a sense of hope. Giant maple seedlings teetering on the edge of mountains with some woman despairingly holding on, these forever landscapes and skies. It's amazing what he does."
To see the cover for Chance of Rain, out now via Hyperdub, read our review of the album here.