Helena Deland is rewriting the rules and watching everyone scramble to try and figure out what game she’s playing. The unconventional Montreal-based artist is the first signing to Luminelle Recordings, a collaborative label between the creator of preeminent music blog Gorilla Vs. Bear and the Fat Possum/House Arrest, who began issuing Deland’s music in volumes called From The Series Of Songs “Altogether Unaccompanied”. These releases exist in a grey area; they aren’t quite single or stand-alone EPs, and they certainly are not full-length albums.
Each song in the series seems to have a life, style, and tone of its own. One of the newest, “Claudion”, is a deep, trancey dance number, inspired by the comradery and companionship of a good friend on a precarious night of partying. Its rhythm is sublime and synthy — snapshots frozen in the pulse of a strobe light.
“Claudion” is off From The Series of Songs “Altogether Unaccompanied” Vol. IV, released simultaneously with Vol. III in October. Deland says that these songs stand on their own even though they are ultimately part of something larger. And though she hasn’t yet revealed what form this larger something will take, the strength of “Claudion” and ther series so far suggests that Helena Deland is playing to win.
