At the G&B Festival Laurel Halo, the enchantress of electronics and hidden details

American critics call her “an electronic enchantress”. Laurel Anne Chartow , aka Laurel Halo , was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A composer, producer, musician and DJ, she has drawn on a wide range of musical traditions in defining her style: her output is varied yet singular, with releases ranging from ambient to club music, from experimental pop to soundtracks. Laurel's debut album, Quarantine (2012), was released by pioneering London label Hyperdub; its combination of raw vocals and cold electronics has garnered critical acclaim, including Album of the Year recognition from The Wire Magazine.

In her next two instrumental albums – Chance of Rain (2013) and In Situ (2015) – the American artist focused on melodic dancefloor material made with extensive use of electronic instruments. Speaking about her compositional style, the musician explained: "I tend to rely on modal improvisation, creating chords and cadences around a note or a drone. And that approach obviously manifests itself in jazz, but also in Western medieval or Renaissance music, as well as various musical traditions around the world, it is present everywhere. I'm not doing anything new in relying on a central note to create starts and returns."

In 2015, Halo was invited to collaborate with former Velvet Underground member John Cale for a live performance that debuted at Hamer Hall in Melbourne, Australia. That same year, Halo also composed the soundtrack for Still Be Here, an installation featuring Japanese virtual pop star Hatsune Miku. On her fourth album, 2017’s Dust from Hyperdub, Halo created a new blend that combined the electronic funk aesthetic of previous releases with a very free-form songwriting style. After composing the soundtrack for the experimental feature-length documentary Possessed in 2018, directed by Dutch group Metahaven, Halo announced her new label Awe in 2021, while the following year she soundtracked Cecilie Bahnsen’s debut show at Paris Fashion Week in March 2022. In the experimental field, Laurel Halo remains one of the most innovative and interesting projects on the international scene.

The article is taken from the issue of Green&Blue on newsstands on June 4, attached to Repubblica and dedicated to the Green& Blue Festival (Milan, June 5-7)

Participation in the G&B Festival is free upon registration .