Circuit des Yeux, the moniker of Haley Fohr, today releases her Matador Records / Rhythmethod debut album, -io, following singles ‘Vanishing‘, ‘Dogma‘ and ‘Sculpting the Exodus‘.
“… powerful exploration of personal and global collapse… The undimmed impact of Fohr’s voice – a tarry, cold-pressed blend of Nico and Anohni – is an unsurprisingly vital component of its uncanny negative-space chill, but it’s underpinned by the sheer intergalactic drama of her arrangements” – MOJO, – 4stars
WATCH Circuit des Yeux perform on NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert’:
-io is the sixth album by vocalist and composer by Circuit des Yeux. A celebrated figure in Chicago’s music community, she has released acclaimed albums via De Stijl, Thrill Jockey, and Drag City and toured throughout the world. However, -io is Circuit des Yeux’s most ornate and elaborate work to date – a set of compositions that nest Fohr’s otherworldly four-octave voice amid a 24-piece string, brass, and wind ensemble. The album was put to tape last fall by Cooper Crain at Chicago’s Electrical Audio studio and mixed by Marta Salogni (Bjork, Holly Herndon) with Fohr acting as arranger and producer. Written in the wake of personal loss and recorded in the midst of the pandemic, -io maps a geography of grief – a place where “everything is ending all the time”. While Fohr’s music has never been short on ambition, these songs are striking in their brilliance and strangeness. On -io, Circuit des Yeux has delivered a work that is vivid, immense, and fully illuminated.
“strikingly original”
“The backing is made up of grandiose, semi-classical string and woodwind arrangements, and Fohr’s voice is a swooping, resonating, four-octave marvel that sounds quite unlike anyone else.”
“… not an easy listen but it’s a complex and rewarding one that tackles alarming themes head on and helps the listener to deal with them too”
– The Times – 4stars
“-io is the purest realisation of Fohr’s pop sensibilities”
“… equal parts Joanna Newsom and Scott Walker”
“Both a cinematically cosmic and profoundly personal voyage”
– The Wire
“Circuit Des Yeux’s Haley Fohr walks no straight line; she traces her own, squiggles and twisted branches included. Her songs, which have evolved from noisy acoustic dirges to bombastic prog-rock miniatures to electronic euphoria, have a way of breaking open personal and cosmic voids”
– NPR
Circuit des Yeux – -io is out now
via Matador Records
