San Fransisco-based Halou (pronounced huh-loo) consists of Rebecca and Ryan Coseboom; the duo have carved a name for themselves in the indie scene by making sumptuous trip-hop influenced ambient dream pop songs. As AllMusic.com's Jo-Ann Greene notes, Halou succeeds at "capturing the drama of the emo scene, the gorgeous soundscapes of ambient, and the rousing rhythms of the club scene, [they] have fast established themselves as one of the most intriguing groups on the modern musical landscape [...] At times entrancing, effervescent, rousing, emotive, and ethereal, this trio leaps across musical boundaries."
"The Ratio of Freckles to Stars" is a track from their fourth album Wholeness and Separation (2006), a masterful sonic production that approximates the sublime, the ethereal and the transcendental, besides evoking an otherworldly, intimate, and detailed psychological interiority.
Music blogger reno812 notes that "the dream pop parts of this album are even better [than the trip hop aspects], the fusion of alternative rock with the sensous and whispering female voice counterpart provided by Coseboom is a hell of a deal." Rebecca Coseboom's whisper-y, intimate vocals are definitely 'a hell of a deal' and the shining feature of the track: her lyrical persona captivates by etching out a delicate, poetic and bittersweet meditation on the pains and pleasures of an obsessive romance:
'But I don't think I can waitI've been living for this dayI think that if I do or don't It'll turn out the same way
But I can't seem to pull myself awayAnd I hope that's OKEven just the very thought Makes me want to stay
This is more than I can takeI fear my heart will burst or breakIf there's a thing as too much joy, I will be taken away
If I wrap you up inside of me, Kiss your fingers greedilyI will lose track of the floorI will lose track of my feet
All that you've conquered Was already yoursWalking the night skyFreckles to the stars'
Lyrics source:
It may seem unusual to experience such an emphatic and emotionally sensuous experience from an electronic-based group, but this just goes to show that technical flourishes can serve as a suprisingly organic and conducive backdrop for human expression - rather than an overwhelming artifice.
