Skullcrusher is the stage name of the American

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

musician, Helen Ballentine.

History

Ballentine was born and raised in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, Ballentine attended the Hackley School, graduating in 2013. Ballantine moved to Los Angeles to attend college, graduating from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

with a degree in graphic design in 2017. Having played piano for most of her life, Ballentine decided to quit her job working at a gallery to pursue music full time. In 2019, Ballentine wrote her first song, "Places/Plans," which was later released on 21 April 2020. Upon the release of the single, Ballentine announced her debut self-titled EP, released on 24 July 2020 via Secretly Canadian. A second song from the EP, "Day of Show," was released on 27 May 2020. On 19 October 2020, Ballentine released a pair of singles entitled "Farm b/w Lift"; "Farm" is an original Skullcrusher song, while "Lift" is a cover of an outtake from

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

's album, ''

OK Computer ''OK Computer'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in Japan on 21 May 1997 and in the UK on 16 June 1997. Radiohead self-produced the album with Nigel Godrich, an arrangement they have used for their subsequ ...

''. For these singles, Ballentine used nostalgic samples from her childhood growing up on the East Coast of the United States, including crickets, cicadas, the beach in Connecticut, and the creaking of old homes. "Farm" was recorded around the

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

area of upstate New York. Ballentine released "Song for Nick Drake" on February 1, 2021. Her debut album, ''Quiet the Room'', was released on October 14, 2022.

Reception

Mark Beaumont in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described Skullcrusher's sound as "Gorgeously gauzy alt-folk paeans haunted by the pale ghosts of pianos and acoustic guitars that drowned many years ago in a Laurel Canyon lagoon", commenting that the band's name suggests something altogether more violent. Alex Robert Ross from The Fader described Ballentines sound as "It’s a deft record, tranquil on its surface but torrid underneath, its loosely strummed acoustic guitars and vaporous melodies rooted to the ground by probing lyrics." Independent music website Pitchfork rated the EP a score of 7.1 upon its release saying "the acoustic confessionalism of her debut EP Skullcrusher isn't terribly original, it is nonetheless lovely, captivating, and quietly devastating."

Discography

Albums

*'' Quiet the Room'' (2022)

EPs

*''Skullcrusher'' (2020) *''Storm in Summer'' (2021)

Singles

*"Song for Nick Drake" (2021) *"Farm" b/w "Lift" (2020)

References

External links

*{{Discogs artist, 8074053 Folk musicians from New York (state) Secretly Canadian artists