Skullcrusher 'Storm in Summer': Live stream, release date, tracklist and all you need to know about Helen Ballentine's EP
Skullcrusher is set to release her new EP 'Storm in Summer' next month. Skullcrusher is the project and stage name of Helen Ballentine, a rising LA-based artist with an infectiously rebellious take on folk music. Ballentine was born and raised in upstate New York and attended the Hackley School, graduating in 2013. She later moved to Los Angeles to attend college, graduating from the University of Southern California 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 step into the musical arena as a career. Ballentine's first song 'Places/Plans' was written in 2019 and released on 21 April 2020.
Here's all you need to know about 'Storm in Summer' below
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Release date
'Storm in Summer' is dropping on April 9, 2021. Skullcrusher announced the EP on March 8 on her social media with the artwork.
Concept
'Storm in Summer' will mark Skullcrusher's second extended play in her discography, following her self-titled EP, which released in July 2020. Her new EP comprises a total of five songs, including its self-titled track and the previously released single 'Song For Nick Drake'.
It's unclear what overall theme the singer has planned for her new project, but as a rising star, Skullcrusher's sound has received notable praise from critics. The Guardian's Mark Beaumont described her 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." Alex Robert Ross from The Fader described Ballentine's debut EP 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."
'Storm in Summer' is also releasing through Skullcrusher's label Secretly Canadian, the group behind names such as The War on Drugs, Suuns, Major Lazer, and many more.
Pre-release singles
As mentioned earlier, Skullcrusher dropped the EP's title track along with her announcement. Its music video is directed by Silken Weinberg and Angela Ricciardi. According to NME, Skullcrusher revealed that she wrote the new single after releasing her debut EP. She said, "Over that summer I thought a lot about what it means to really put myself out there and share something personal. I felt so vulnerable and overwhelmed by the fact that these songs I had written in private were exposed and likely being misinterpreted or disliked." Skullcrusher added, "I think the song really tries to communicate these anxieties in a cathartic way while also leaning more into the beauty of relinquishing part of myself."
The title track follows 'Song For Nick Drake', also featured on her upcoming EP. Watch both music videos below.
Tracklist
1. ‘Windshield’
2. ‘Song For Nick Drake’
3. ‘Steps’
4. ‘Storm In Summer’
5. ‘Prefer’
How to live stream?
Pre-orders and pre-saves can be done via this link.