''Dust'' is the third album by Berlin-based American

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

artist

Laurel Halo Laurel Anne Chartow (born June 3, 1985), known professionally as Laurel Halo, is an American electronic musician currently based in Los Angeles, California. She released her debut album '' Quarantine'' on Hyperdub in 2012 to critical acclaim; it ...

. It was released on June 23, 2017 by

Hyperdub __NOTOC__ Hyperdub is a British electronic music record label and former webzine based in London, founded by Kode9, 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 l ...

. The album features contributions from Eli Keszler,

Julia Holter Julia Shammas Holter (born December 18, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist, and academic, based in Los Angeles. Her work has received critical acclaim and incorporates elements of art pop, chamber pop, baroq ...

, Michael Salu, and Max D among others, and was preceded by the single "Jelly", featuring

Klein Klein may refer to: People *Klein (surname) *Klein (musician) Places * Klein (crater), a lunar feature *Klein, Montana, United States * Klein, Texas, United States * Klein (Ohm), a river of Hesse, Germany, tributary of the Ohm * Klein River, a r ...

and Lafawndah.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Dust'' was received positively by music critics, with a

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

weighed aggregate score of 84 out of 100 based on 18 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Ben Beaumont-Thomas called the album "a triumph of

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

, where the digital and organic coexist in a radically beautiful whole," while naming it

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

." In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Paul Simpson described ''Dust'' as, "very disorienting and not always easy to grasp hold of, but it never comes close to sounding like anything else, and its best moments are highly compelling." Heather Phares described the album in the artist's biography as fusing

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

with

avant-pop Avant-pop is popular music that is experimental, new, and distinct from previous styles while retaining an immediate accessibility for the listener. The term implies a combination of avant-garde sensibilities with existing elements from popular ...

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform established in 2001 and dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. Its editorial team provides news, music and ev ...

described the music on ''Dust'' as

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

. Andrew Dorsett of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

said in his review that Halo is "crafting a series of drifting

art pop Art pop (also typeset art-pop or artpop) is a loosely defined style of pop music influenced by art theory, art theories as well as ideas from other art mediums, such as fashion, fine art, film, cinema, and avant-garde literature. The genre dra ...

pieces that evoke forgotten, buried materials long since fallen into disrepair.".

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

' Joseph Burnett said that "her almost monomaniacal focus on the intricacies of sound since her earliest releases has clearly culminated with this record, one that is in constant flux between joyful abandon and grim introspection,

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

-tinged

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

and

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

expressionism." April Clare Welsh of ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' wrote: "Like Arca's '' Arca'', Laurel Halo's third album also explores the human voice. But while Arca explores largely organic territory, Halo fashions a

musique concrete Musique is the French word for music. Musique may also refer to: Music *Musique (disco band), a 1970s studio band produced by Patrick Adams *Musique, a British dance act consisting of Moussa Clarke and Nick Hanson best known for their 2001 song ...

mosaic of vocal cut-ups and robotic reveries."

Accolades

Track listing

Tracks adapted from

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Dust''.

Musicians

– vocals, synthesizer, piano, vibraphone, guitaret * Eli Keszler – drum kit, dumbek, glockenspiel * Max D – cowbell *

– vocals * Lafawndah – vocals * Michael Salu – vocals * Craig Clouse – wurlitzer *

– cello * Michael Beharie – electric guitar * Diamond Terrifier – tenor saxophone

Technical personnel

* Laurel Halo – production * Cole M.G.N. – mixing * Jason Goz – mastering

Artwork

* Phillip Aumann – photography

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Experimental music albums Laurel Halo albums Art pop albums Experimental music albums by American artists Electronic albums by American artists Musique concrète albums