[photos by Michael José]
Southern Lord presents the ripping third LP by Copenhagen, Denmark-based hardcore punk trio HALSHUG, Drøm. The record has been let off the chain early through a stream hosted by No Echo on the eve of its official release date.
On Drøm, HALSHUG expands their sound from the dirge-driven, crust-influenced d-beat of their earlier albums Blodets Bånd and Sort Sind and explores the dynamics of longer songs, more audible lyrics, and altered tempos, which result in different shades of industrial, dark-wave, and post-punk. Drøm was recorded by Simon Sonne, mixed at Dead Air Studio (The Men, Warthog), and mastered by Peter Peter (The Sods, Bleeder).
No Echo writes in part, “…HALSHUG‘s earlier material mined from the great tradition of d-beat and hardcore from Europe. Both Blodets Bånd (2015) and Sort Sind (2016) were cut in that sonic spirit, but for their latest collection, the band decided to open its stylistic borders and let in new sounds into their songwriting approach. Cut with Simon Sonne (Orm) in Copenhagen, Drøm finds HALSHUG welcoming in everything from deathrock to industrial to post-punk into the proceedings.”
Stream HALSHUG’s entire Drøm LP only at No Echo RIGHT HERE.
Southern Lord, who has delivered HALSHUG‘s prior two LP’s, will release Drøm on LP and digital formats worldwide this Friday, July 19th. Place orders at Bandcamp HERE and physical preorder options at the label webshop HERE. See the official “Fantasi” video HERE.
HALSHUG continues touring in bursts across Europe surrounding the release of the Drøm LP. Following their successful May tour, the band is booking new summer live dates, with a Scandinavian tour confirmed for September. Watch for updates to be issued through throughout the year in support of the new LP.
HALSHUG Tour Dates:
9/07/2019 Vaterland – Oslo, NO
9/12/2019 1000Fryd – Aalborg, DK
9/13/2019 Radar – Aarhus, DK
9/14/2019 Stengade – København, DK
9/20/2019 Kulturhuset – Gøteborg, SE
9/27/2019 Plan B – Malmø, SE
9/28/2019 Hus 7 – Stockholm, SE
According to HALSHUG, the title Drøm (translated to “dream”) refers to a wider theme of the record which views dreams as, “a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind. And also, sort of a vision, or a wanting of something more than just what is. The dream is volatile. It can burst. One moment it felt real, and moments later it can’t even be recalled.”
Other ideas come into play too, as the HALSHUG members describe, “A lot of the songs are about mirrors. The intimacy that is in privacy, alone with oneself. And the cathartic moments where interaction becomes wordless. They are mostly scenes or clips from dreams, that could have looked like either old movies or scenes from the hang-out area at a rave. Some of them are recollections of things that have happened, but most of them are dreamt or felt. Some songs are about dominance and submission, about letting go, either trusting or just not caring. Some of them are also statements, metaphorical or literate, about being subordinate as an individual in a complex power structure.”
To summarize on their intent, the band remarks, “The whole idea is to create a medium through which we can forward true human energy. It’s about lust, guts, and a protest against reality. A wish of life. It’s not important to us what genre we end up playing, it just happened to be like this.”
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