Experimental Ambient/Electronic Duo Tolari Shares New Album ‘Death’s Halo’

Today, experimental ambient/electronic duo Tolari (Ed Tullett & Auryn Waring) share their second full-length album, Death’s Halo. In an age where human existence is so submerged in digital noise, the album explores the existential clash between technology and humanity with both analog and digital elements.

“The record is inspired by the resurgence of nineties pop culture and technology, parasocial relationships, and mixed feelings of being dependent, overwhelmed, and lost within forms of digital escapism,” reveals Ed. “There isn’t much you can say in an album of instrumental music, but where we’ve been able to, we’ve focused on telling a somewhat personal story of someone—perhaps unwittingly—shutting themselves out from reality. They’ve become too comfortable living this way, while allowing the constant warning signs to pile up to a point of no return.”

Death’s Halo drew as much inspiration from Alien, Blade Runner, and Aeon Flux as from Orbital, Oneohtrix Point Never, Vangelis, James Blake, Radiohead, and Boards of Canada. Tied to a fascinating thematic thread, the title references “a virtual reality therapy system.”

“Conceptually, the album is a soundtrack for a fictional, virtual reality world called ‘Death’s Halo’,” Auryn explains. “Invented in the late nineties as a digital therapy resort for people at the end of their rope, users can design and experience their ideal life. From the perspective of one user who refuses to log out, we hear this soundtrack morphing and distorting alongside the twisting shapes and textures of the landscape and all its inhabitants.”

Death’s Halo is available at all digital retailers now: https://tolari.ffm.to/deathshalo