{"product_id":"skullcrusher-quiet-the-room-lp-gatefold","title":"Skullcrusher – Quiet the Room LP (Gatefold)","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHelen Ballentine's spellbinding first full-length album Quiet the Room\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eis the sound of a window opening, a barrier dissolving. Across these \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003efourteen tracks, the outside world seeps in and the inside world crawls \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eout. The result is a stunning and quietly moving work that reflects the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ejourneys we take through the physical and spiritual realms of ourselves in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eorder to show up for the world. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhile writing the album in the summer of 2021, Ballentine drew \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003einspiration from her childhood home in Mount Vernon, NY. What she set \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eout to capture on Quiet the Room was not the innocence of childhood, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eas it is so often portrayed, but the intense complexity of it. Past and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003epresent merge Escher-like in this dreamlike space laced with elements \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eof fantasy, magic, and mystery. Musically, this translates into a sound that \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003efeels somehow weighty and ephemeral all at once, like a time lapse of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ecopper corroding. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eTo capture the effortless blend of electronic, ambient, folk, and rock, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBallentine and her partner and collaborator Noah Weinman brought in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eproducer Andrew Sarlo to record at Chicken Shack studio in Upstate New \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eYork, close to where Ballentine grew up. \"We wanted every song to have \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ethat little twinkle, but also a sense of crumbling,\" she says. These songs \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ethrum with moments of anxiety that boil over into moments of peace, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eas on lead single \"Whatever Fits Together,\" which chugs to a ragged \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003estart before the gears catch and ease. On \"It's Like a Secret,\" Ballentine \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003estruggles to connect and let people in, recognizing that no one can ever \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003efully know our inner worlds and that to understand each other is to cross \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ea barrier and leave a part of ourselves behind. And yet, on closing track \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\"You are my House,\" she finds a way to reach out. \"You are the walls and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003efloors of my room,\" she sings in perfect, hopeful harmony. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs the album cover invites, these are dollhouse songs to which we bend \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ea giant eye, peering into the laminate, luminous world that Ballentine has \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ecreated. Like a kid constructing a shelter in a patch of sharp brambles, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eshe reminds us that beauty and terror can exist in the same place. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe complexities of childhood are so often overlooked, but through \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ethese private yet generous songs, she gives new weight to our earliest \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ememories, widening the frame for us-even opening a window.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"02- Alliance","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58456764612939,"sku":"656605041006.0","price":8.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1048\/3820\/1675\/files\/skull.jpg?v=1789240532","url":"https:\/\/grooveecho.shop\/products\/skullcrusher-quiet-the-room-lp-gatefold","provider":"GLOBALS BRIGHT SPORTS ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}