At least in my little world, there’s been an uptick in bands that embrace vagueness. Vaguely everything: vaguely mysterious and enigmatic, vaguely photographed, vaguely posting on social media, vaguely hostile to search engines. I think it’s excellent. Let the music speak for itself.

untitled (halo) checks all those boxes. They make breakbeat-backed indie rock, melodic and sometimes shoegazey, slacker-ish but meticulously assembled. Maybe a modern take on 90’s trip-hop. Here’s their latest single, “that’s honey”:

It’s a bit Bar Italia, a bit Bowery Electric, it’s reminiscent of blog fave Clothesline from Hell or M. Vaughan with a second vocalist. Their other recent single, sKill isSue, is along the same lines: drum loops, acoustic guitars, hushed vocals and catchy melodies:

There’s a kind of effortless cool to these songs, and the band behind them. This profile in Teen Vogue (!) magazine is an excellent one. It dives into their influences, which make me feel old (‘older films…[like] Dazed and Confused‘) but come through loud and clear in the music. As with bands like 1000 gecs, having access to nearly unlimited culture results in something fresh and unusual:

Their influences are numerous, but no single entity is idolized. “We have no big heroes in music anymore. Every celebrity’s washed, you know?” Dione muses. “There’s this vagueness because we’re not bowing down to some deity of music anymore.”

It works extremely well for them. untitled (halo) took more room to experiment on 2023 EP towncryer. Some songs on that record lean more toward fogginess and mystery, from the barely-discernible lyrics of “xiua” and the super-downtempo “el prado freestyle” and closer “oblique butterfly”. The highlight of that record for me is “spiral”:

untitled (halo) has toured recently with DIIV, and are headed to Europe for some shows in November (including Pitchfork London).

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