It’s been a few years since Skullcrusher’s sprawling debut full-length, Quiet The Room. The ethereal singer-songwriter left Los Angeles to return to New York’s Hudson Valley, and now she’s announcing her sophomore album And Your Song Is Like A Circle, arriving this fall on her new label home Dirty Hit. The magical lead single “Exhale” is out now.

“‘Exhale’ is about noticing the moment when a song is first conceived,” Helen Ballentine explains, continuing:

There is a part of me that wants to stop there and leave the song unfinished, before structure settles in and the song evolves. Instead, I allow it to form & accept whatever it may become. This process feels natural, like taking a pause at the top of your inhale before letting it all out. Maybe through acknowledging this process I can feel more at peace with change in general. When thoughts, words & sounds interact in a certain way they can reveal a path forward. Sometimes I want to linger before this path, in a space that feels hidden and safe, but in the end I take the path & surrender to change.

For the LP, Ballentine worked alongside Aaron Paul O’Brien in Los Angeles and co-producer Isaac Eiger (Lauren Balthrop, Cassandra Jenkins) in New York. The press release mentions moth infestations and David Lynch’s Inland Empire as inspirations. Watch the Adam Alonzo-directed music video for “Exhale” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “March”
02 “Dragon”
03 “Living”
04 “Maelstrom”
05 “Changes”
06 “Periphery”
07 “Red Car”
08 “Exhale”
09 “Vessel”
10 “The Emptying”

And Your Song Is Like A Circle is out 10/17 via Dirty Hit. Pre-order it here.