Premiere: Halal Sol touches deep creative grounds with the release of ‘Rotund’

Halal Sol is not afraid of sonic space. He makes this clear in ‘Rotund', the second single to be released in the anticipated EP 'DIJAMIN’, under the label Darker Than Wax.

The Singaporean producer has shown, yet again, the spunk to push his sounds to visionary waters. ‘Rotund’ starts with a dense synth reminiscent of the 90s, laid on a subtle vinyl crackle bed that gives the listener the aural context of what the track is about. Followed by a familiar-yet-different thump, paired with percussive vocals that double as the recurring song’s top line. Going from spacious silences to perfectly crafted wall-of-sound sections, Halal Sol’s maturity as a producer is undeniable.

‘Rotund’ is a light-year away from Halal Sol’s bedroom beginnings back in 2013, yet the spirit of deep house and acid jazz soul remains a constant theme in the producer’s sound profile to this day, as is the case of this modern-sounding track with retro aesthetics.

The artist’s upcoming album titled ‘DIJAMIN’ is a promise that each track comes from a place of love and passion, displaying the expansion in Halal Sol’s art.

Halal Sol breaks down the single, “‘Rotund’ was inspired by lo-fi house beats. I kept everything as vanilla and simple as possible, relying on tweaking the synth effects to give some dynamism to the music. Subtly, the synth and drums come in and out of tune to emulate a wonky cassette or vinyl player. I had so much fun creating this track. I limited myself to use only one melody throughout the track and to be as creative as possible by playing the with the effect of the synthesizers and drums. I imagined myself in a big studio with modular synths everywhere and me just turning the synthesizer knobs and having to record it on analogue equipment. This visualisation really helped with the creative process. But actually, I was in my bedroom studio in front of a screen with a keyboard and mouse.”

With this outing, the label Darker Than Wax keeps poking boundaries in the music scene, and this release proves that. When it comes to advocating for unity and the celebration of humankind diversity, the label shows where it stands in the spectrum with the best tool they know; quality electronic music for the discerning listener.

Halal Sol ‘DIJAMIN EP’ is out on May 7 on Darker Than Wax and you can pre-order here and you listen to ‘Rotund’ below.