Post-punk band Hallan offer up a pounding and frenetic number that has festival mosh pit written all over it

On their website, the band describe themselves as channelling the “frustrations, insecurities, and events of early adulthood” into their lyrics, all while writing and rehearsing in an 18th Century fortification built into a hill. It’s safe to say they have an incredibly unique recording space — you couldn’t make it up.

I’d say make of that what you will – but actually, after listening to Orwell’s Idyllic Future, I think it’s a pretty accurate description of what you’re going to get.

The song starts dramatically. First, there’s the guitar for about twenty seconds, then the drums kick in and the track launches into full throttle mode. It’s like being hit in the face (in a good way, of course). After getting my attention with that opener it settles down to an urgent, thrumming bassline which keeps my pulse racing. Then the vocals drop... “I saw one thousand ships, they were sat in the sea / And now I can’t see those ships, were they make-believe?”

It’s raw, punchy and aggressive. The kind of punk lyrics that are easy to pick up and great to shout at the top of your lungs in the middle of a mosh pit. The chorus raises the tempo and urgency and, whilst it’s expertly done, I personally prefer the more dialled down verses. The bassline and vocals during those parts of the track do more than enough for me.

Overall, it’s a great track. I hope I can one day catch them live at a festival. This is the sort of band that demands to be heard in that way.

They’re playing the following live dates this year:

25th August – The Kazimier, Liverpool
26th August – Bootleg Social, Blackpool
27th August – YES, Manchester
28th August – Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
8th September – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
10th September – Hope and Ruin, Brighton
12th September – Moth Club, London