Last week, we welcomed the return of London-based musician Halls with the heartfelt single ‘The Gift’, which tells of Sam Howard’s grief after the loss of his father to cancer. As we’ve already explored, Howard’s gradual return to his solo project wasn’t a straight forward one and yet once he began songwriting, a spring of inspiration appeared. Through the forthcoming album, the artist bravely takes on the feeling of great sadness, as well as the process of healing, and here we have the first installment from the record, aka Infinite Loss Pt. 1. Of the five released tracks, we’re particularly struck by ‘Hallelujah’. It’s a grief-fuelled confessional of the thoughts that run through one's mind following the loss of a loved one. The unexpected interplay between the bright, choppy piano and mellow, paced chords represent two streams of reality existing alongside each other; the external world and the inner, pensive one. The flourishes of electronica underpinning the organic keys comes to the fore at about the one minute mark with a return of those sustained, almost ecclesiastical, synths and Howard’s heavily affected vocals. We revolve one more time through the verse of sweeping orchestral strings, syncopated beats and snipped samples, before the warped ambience takes over once again like a haunting spectre. It’s not a threatening presence, but rather it’s strangely soothing, as it permits all of these emotions freedom to roam. We’re incredibly touched by Halls project, and can’t wait to hear the rest.  As well as ‘Hallelujah’, be sure to check out the rest of the album’s first part, especially ‘Wait For You’. - Hannah Thacker