Halogen - Sirens

Hailing from Western Australia, for those who aren’t familiar, Halogen are a band that manage to fuse emotional grooves with an openness not found in many bands of their sort.

Following up from Baby’s Eyes, their beautifully captivating, somewhat melancholic sound has been carried forward to this third album. There is a sense of mystery and intrigue presented throughout this recording, again and always, an element of sadness forms perpetual ripples dispersed throughout.

‘Even in the Summer’ is a downbeat track, even though it starts up tempo and it feels like the quintessential Australian heat is bearing down in their home city of Perth. However, it seems fitting that most of Halogen’s musical calamities would best be listened to on a rainy wintry day.

Peculiar and comforting vocals provided by Jasmine Yee breed a kind of introspective wave of colliding thoughts, especially in us prone to this kind of behaviour. Sometimes, you can’t help but become moved or affected by such torrents of emotional music. There are even similarities to Little Birdy and their vocalist Katy Steele, this is especially true on the track ‘The Letter’ which has that almost husky intimacy they both convey.

The particularly striking and enchanting ’Baby’s Eyes’ needs no formal introduction as it swirls its way into the mind. Set out like a paragraph, Halogens song lyrics on Sirens are much deeper than they first seem. Poetry, meaning, emotion, depth and experiences are pined over.

Distinct and unique with a mellow like acceptance, Sirens builds on the ears song by song. Beware though, their music may bring out the desire to pour a nice glass of red while soothing away the day’s woes. This is the notion given most of the way along, especially as the spiritually swaying ‘Sad-Love’(drive) plays.
‘Tonight’ features sweet sounds on guitar that complements the track so well.
‘Get Up’ blends some electronic sounds on keyboard with a distorted haze and mesmerising vocals that are hypnotic and softly saddening to say the least.
Ending the record with a repetitive gorge of strain sounds a bit abrupt, but then there’s the strange sense of hypnosis that you’re still under for a little while afterwards to even think about worrying.