Skullcrusher – “Day Of Show”

You probably expect an artist named Skullcrusher to sound a certain way. Skullcrusher does not sound that way. Instead, Skullcrusher is the project of LA-based singer-songwriter Helen Ballentine, who uses that extremely metal moniker to record delicate, lovely guitar music. We’ve already heard one song from her upcoming self-titled debut EP, “Places/Plans,” and now she’s shared another, “Day Of Show,” which adds washes of ambient synth to the hazy mix.

“I wrote ‘Day of Show’ on a hot day last summer in my roommate’s bedroom because mine didn’t have AC,” Ballentine explains. “I felt dazed and restless from sitting around in the heat all day. It is a song about feeling trapped in yourself, unable to help yourself and reluctant to let others in. It explores the fragmented behavior and thoughts that arise from this feeling: a kind of daydreaming that can be really creative but also the darkness that also exists there. It’s musically inspired by a lot of the shoegaze music I listen to.”

Listen below.

Skullcrusher is out 6/26 on Secretly Canadian. Pre-order it here.