Laurel Anne Chartow (born June 3, 1985), known professionally as Laurel Halo, is an American

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

musician currently based in Berlin, Germany. She released her debut album ''

Quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

'' on

Hyperdub __NOTOC__ Hyperdub is a British, London-based electronic music record label and former webzine, founded by Steve Goodman, a.k.a. Kode9. The label was formed in 2004, and grew out of the UK's early dubstep scene. Artists signed to the label have ...

in 2012 to critical acclaim; it was named album of the year by ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

''. She followed with studio albums '' Chance of Rain'' (2013) and ''

Dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in ho ...

'' (2017), as well as various EPs and the mini-album ''

Raw Silk Uncut Wood ''Raw Silk Uncut Wood'' is a mini-album by Berlin-based American electronic musician Laurel Halo, released on July 13, 2018, through Latency Recordings. It consists of six ambient instrumental tracks. Release Halo announced the release of a "min ...

'' (2018).

Biography

Laurel Anne Chartow was born on June 3, 1985, in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, where she also grew up and learned to play the piano, guitar and violin. She draws influences from the music of Detroit, London and Berlin, as well as from her time in

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

ensembles and as a college radio DJ. She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 2009, and later moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 2013.

Musical career

Halo self-released the EPs ''The Future Fruit'' and ''Ambrosia'' before signing with

Hippos in Tanks Hippos in Tanks was a record label founded in 2010 by Barron Machat and Travis Woolsey. The label specialized in electronic music. It was named the best label of 2011 by '' FACT''. Following the death of Machat in 2015, ''The Fader'' praised the ...

and releasing the EP ''King Felix'' (2010), which was inspired by Philip K. Dick's novel ''

VALIS ''Valis'' (stylized as ''VALIS'') is a 1981 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's gnostic vis ...

''. She followed with ''Hour Logic'' in 2011. Her debut album, ''

'', was released on the London-based label

in June 2012. The album was named Album of the Year in 2012 by ''

''. Her second album, '' Chance of Rain'', was released in October 2013. In 2015, Halo worked alongside Rashad Becker,

Julia Holter Julia Shammas Holter (born December 18, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist and academic, based in Los Angeles. Following three independent album productions, Holter released ''Tragedy'' as her first official ...

and NH'Koxyen on the collaborative, 'telepathic' ''Terepa'' EP, in addition to providing a cover of a previously lost Karen Dalton song for the Tompkins Square compilation, ''Remembering Mountains''. 2015 also saw Halo collaborate with John Cale and

Lisa Gerrard Lisa Germaine Gerrard (; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique ( ...

for a performance of Cale's music at the Arts Centre Melbourne. Halo released ''In Situ'', a double-EP for the London-based label

Honest Jon's Honest Jon's is a British independent record shop based on Portobello Road in Ladbroke Grove, London, operating since 1974. The shop is owned and run by Mark Ainley and Alan Scholefield, who took over from one of the original proprietors, "Hone ...

in the fall of 2015. In 2016, Laurel Halo composed the soundtrack for ''Still Be Here'', a collaborative piece featuring the Japanese virtual pop star Hatsune Miku. It premiered at HKW in Berlin, Germany. In June 2017, Halo released her third album ''

'', featuring contributions from

Eli Keszler Eli Keszler is an American percussionist, composer, and visual artist based in New York City. Known for his complex and intricate style of drumming, as well creating sound installations involving piano wire and other mechanisms to accompany his l ...

, Julia Holter,

Michael Salu Michael Salu, British-born of Nigerian heritage, is a creative director, art and photography editor, designer, brand strategist, writer and illustrator. Education and career Born in London, England, to parents from Nigeria, Michael Salu lived i ...

, Max D, Klein, and Lafawndah among others. The album received critical praise from numerous publications. In January 2018, it was announced that Halo wrote a score for the documentary film ''Possessed'' by Dutch design studio Metahaven and Rob Schröder. Later that year in July, she released a mini-album on Latency Recordings titled ''

'', which she stated was inspired by her contribution to the film. The mini-album consists of six instrumental ambient tracks, and features contributions from cellist Oliver Coates, whom she also worked with on the ''Possessed'' score, and percussionist Eli Keszler. Halo also teamed up with Bristol-based musician Hodge on the collaborative EP ''Tru / Opal / The Light Within You'', which was released on November 30, 2018, by Livity Sound Recordings. The two worked on the three songs together over the course of a couple years in Berlin. January 2021 saw her announce the label Awe as an outlet for her solo and collaborative work.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Remixes

Soundtrack releases

Guest appearances

Collaborations

*''FRKWYS Vol. 7'' ( RVNG Intl., 2011) *''Terepa'' EP (Other People, 2015)

References

External links

Official websiteLaurel Halo discography
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halo, Laurel American electronic musicians Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Hyperdub artists American women in electronic music 1985 births 21st-century American musicians American expatriates in Germany Musicians from Berlin 21st-century American women