Half Waif – "Halogen 2"

At the end January, Nandi Rose announced her latest album under her Half Waif moniker. The Caretaker — the followup to Lavender, one the best albums 2018 — will be out in just about a month. So far, we’ve heard its lead single, “Ordinary Talk.” And today, Rose is back with another one called “Halogen 2.”

The new song comes with a video as well. Here’s what Rose had to say about each:

“Halogen 2″ is a song about isolation and the search for strength. The halogens are some the most reactive elements on the periodic table, and in this song, winter and a life alone in the country are like halogen: an unrelenting force that produces change. I wrote this song at home in Upstate New York last March at a time when my sense isolation was at its height. And yet I’ve always been someone who loves my alone time, so there was a sense shame that I couldn’t handle it this time. I needed to tell myself and anyone witnessing my restlessness: “Don’t misunderstand, I do what I must.” Nearly a year after writing the song, we shot most the music video in the same location: my house and yard. The two opposing feelings presented by the verses and choruses are represented visually in the Blue World cold, stagnant country life and the Orange World the unfettered, fiery strength that lies beneath.

“Halogen 2″ begins in a stranger, slightly f-kilter place — Rose’s voice layered and warped above a stuttering beat and lurching synths. Then other colors flood into the song, the synths growing more vivid and Rose’s voice breaking through into a chorus that’s as characteristically gorgeous as Half Waif’s best material. Check it out below.

The Caretaker is out 3/27 on ANTI-. Pre-order it here.