The Halfs - Orange Juice With Pulp

The Halfs 

Orange Juice With Pulp
self-released; 2014

4.0 out of 5

By J Simpson

The as-yet-unnamed movement of male/female electronic duos is proving to be one of the most exciting and invigorating trends of the past five years or so. The fact that it is only two people allows for intimacy and creative chemistry, while the extensive pallet available to electronic musicians lets them flesh out the sound to unimaginable fullness.

The Halfs is Jasper Boyd and Nina Petropolous, who have been making music since 2011, in their hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts. They recommend their debut LP, Orange Juice With Pulp, to anyone who likes "dream pop, fishing stories, and psychedelia," which alerts you ahead of time that this is a mixed bag. Orange Juice With Pulp is a dense and imaginative jigsaw puzzle of electric pianos, thick and fuzzy bass, scattered beats and acoustic instruments, which are occasionally interspersed with stream-of-consciousness dialogue from Nick Pagan, presumably, like a hazy, wavy dream sequence in the midst of the narrative.

A few years ago, The Halfs would probably have been working solely in the realm of twee acoustic folk, with the plaintiff Americana vocal harmonies of Boyd and Petropolous, but The Halfs have expanded their vocabulary, to include soul, R&B and experimental electronica to great effect. They seem like they are starting with a kind of organic, roots-y chemistry, similar to The Moldy Peaches, which has been elaborated upon in a post-Beach House world, creating a wider variety of moods, emotions and textures.

Speaking of texture, Orange Juice With Pulp switches up the mediums from time to time, with The Halfs, dropping scuzzy cassette home recordings into the slick, put-together post-rock soul, gives the record a bit of much-needed grit, making it more tangible and easier to relate to.

Orange Juice With Pulp is a 21-track experiment in storytelling with music. The length, the shifting textures of the music, and the unconventional song structures serves this effect with different things standing out each time.

Orange Juice With Pulp is an auspicious beginning for an ambitious band. The individual elements of the record are well recorded and everything's nicely mixed by Jasper Boyd himself. Here's a band that is investing the time, trying to create something unique and interesting, which is the hallmark of bands that will survive the test of time. Orange Juice With Pulp rewards repeat listening; so let this become the soundtrack to your inner world, your closed-eye dreams. Let it dissolve you and then piece yourself back together.

official website

bandcamp

Tweet