Earlier this year, Circuit Des Yeux unveiled the extravagant album Halo On The Inside. Now the art-pop musician is back with an expanded edition called Halo On The Inside: Director’s Cut.

Halo On The Inside: Director’s Cut features a brand-new song titled “Decoy” as well as demos of “Cosmic Joke” and “Truth.” Here’s what Haley Fohr said about the project:

HOTI: Director’s Note

It has been over two years since the beginning of Halo on the Inside. Although our landscape continues to transform in unimaginable ways, my artistic statement in HOTI remains intact nearly 1,000 days after its inception.

Humans are not to be feared. We are not a perfect specimen, but we are as nature intended. This album was written in utter aloneness. I would pick up my hypothetical pen in my darkest hour when villains and enemies danced around mockingly in my mind. My etchings often felt like a fool’s errand, a brush with insanity.

But every so often dawn would break and the idioms of predator, abuser, grifter, and murderer would all break down to the same soft center; a wonderless child. We are each some form of an innocent, unknowing child who has been roughly marked by time.

We all need the help of strangers. It is a revelatory act to reach out and steady oneself with the hand of the unknown. This album was finished by benevolent strangers – people I had never met and some I will never meet. The result is my boldest, most thematic album. Each song on HOTI represents a wrestle of knowing love in all its heart-aching truths. It is my dearest hope that my efforts in creation during desolation will encourage others to find wonder when washed ashore on their own deserted island.

It is my honor to present Halo on the Inside to you in its original form. My ‘Director’s Cut’ includes three previously unreleased tracks + two demos. They are songs that give breath + ooze to the conundrum of turning to love again + again + again. These newly included songs balance the previous presented work and allot in me a great, final exhale.

May you live in love + wonder,

H

Watch the self-directed video for “Decoy” below, as well as the demos for “Cosmic Joke” and ”

Halo On The Inside: Director’s Cut is out now via Matador.