Halfaxa

Halfaxa is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music artist Grimes. It was released in Canada on October 5, 2010, by Arbutus Records, and in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe in May 2011 by Lo Recordings.^[3][5][6][7]

Halfaxa
Studio album by Grimes
Released	September 30, 2010 (2010-09-30)
Genre	Witch house goth-pop darkwave glo-fi experimental[1]
Length	55:07
Label	Arbutus Lo
Producer	Grimes
Grimes chronology
Geidi Primes (2010) Halfaxa (2010) Darkbloom (2011)
Alternative cover
Lo Recordings cover

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Drowned in Sound	7/10[2]
Dummy	7/10[3]
Pitchfork	7.8/10[4]

Background

While making this album, Grimes was making tons of music and most of the times the music reflected the opposite of how she felt.^[8] The album is mostly inspired by her time in Halifax, Nova Scotia while staying at her friend's home.^[9]

Composition

Halfaxa has been described as a goth-pop, witch house, dark wave, and glo-fi release, as well as featuring influences of glitch pop, R&B, techno, industrial, and electro.^[2][10][11] Grimes has said Halfaxa was created to "evoke the feeling of believing in God in a very Medieval Christian way", and has described it as her "medieval" album.^[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Outer"	1:12
2.	"Intor / Flowers" (deliberately misspelled;[13][14][15] titled as "Intro / Flowers" on most digital releases[16][17][18])	2:50
3.	"Weregild"	5:14
4.	"∆∆∆∆Rasik∆∆∆∆" (deleted from digital releases and pressings made by Arbutus Records in 2016 and later[19])	1:50
5.	"Heartbeats" (bonus track exclusive to the Lo Recordings releases[18][20])	4:32
6.	"Sagrad Прекрасный"	5:13
7.	"Dragvandil"	1:39
8.	"Devon"	4:31
9.	"Dream Fortress"	5:01
10.	"World ♡ Princess"	4:41
11.	"† River †"	1:57
12.	"Swan Song"	3:05
13.	"≈Ω≈Ω≈Ω≈Ω≈Ω≈Ω≈Ω≈Ω≈" (titled as "Omega" on some releases[15])	2:14
14.	"My Sister Says the Saddest Things"	4:12
15.	"Hallways"	5:44
16.	"Favriel"	2:36
Total length:		55:07

All tracks are written by Claire Boucher

Notes

• On the Lo Recordings version, the tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6 are stylised in lowercase and 9, 10 are stylised as "Dreamfortress" and "world♡princess."
• On some digital releases, "∆∆∆∆Rasik∆∆∆∆" is simply titled "rasik".

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Halfaxa.^[21]

• Grimes – vocals, production, composition, illustrations
• Jasper Baydala – design
• Sebastian Cowan – mastering (tracks 1–4, tracks 6–16)
• Antony Ryan – mastering (track 5)

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format(s)
Canada[22]	September 30, 2010	Arbutus Records	Digital download
United States[23]
Canada[24]	October 5, 2010		CD
Australia[25]	February 28, 2011	Lo Recordings	Digital download
France[26]
Germany[27]
United Kingdom[28]
Germany[29]	March 11, 2011		CD
United Kingdom[30][31]	March 14, 2011		CD LP
France[32][33]	March 16, 2011	Loreley
Australia[34]	March 30, 2011	Lo Recordings	CD
Germany[35]	April 22, 2011		LP
United States[36]	January 31, 2012	Arbutus Records	CD
United States[37]	April 1, 2016	Arbutus Records	LP

References

1. Pitchfork Staff (October 8, 2019). "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 6, 2023. Claire Boucher's first two albums as Grimes submerged her pop instincts deep within experimental manipulations.
2. Welsh, April Clare (March 8, 2011). "Grimes – Halfaxa". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
3. "Halfaxa - Home". Dummy. 4 April 2011.
4. Moreland, Quinn (April 6, 2016). "Grimes: Halfaxa". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
5. "Grimes – Halfaxa (CD & Download)". Lo Recordings. 2011. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
6. Marszalek, Julian (March 22, 2011). "Grimes – Halfaxa". The Quietus. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
7. Diver, Mike (March 1, 2011). "Review of Grimes – Halfaxa". BBC Music. BBC Online. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
8. Coleman, Madeline (2011-03-04). "Interview With Grimes". Maisonneuve. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
9. Grimes Breaks Down Her Albums, From Geidi Primes to Miss Anthropocene | On the Records | Pitchfork, retrieved 2022-04-18
10. Bowler, Paul (March 23, 2016). "Geidi Primes, Halfaxa / Grimes". Record Collector Mag. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
11. Marsh, Calum (November 1, 2010). "Grimes - Halfaxa Review". Coke Machine Glow. Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
12. "forthebeat » Interview with Grimes". 2012-07-03. Archived from the original on 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
13. "Grimes – Halfaxa (2012, CD)". Discogs.
14. "Grimes – Halfaxa (2011, CD)". Discogs.
15. "Halfaxa, by Grimes".
16. "Intro / Flowers - YouTube". YouTube.
17. "Halfaxa by Grimes". 5 October 2010.
18. "Halfaxa". Spotify. 28 February 2011.
19. "Grimes – Halfaxa (2016, Digipak, CD)". Discogs.
20. "Halfaxa (Lo87), by Grimes". Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
21. Halfaxa (CD liner notes). Grimes. Lo Recordings. 2011. LCD87.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
22. "Halfaxa by Grimes". iTunes Store Canada. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
23. "Halfaxa by Grimes". iTunes Store US. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
24. "HALFAXA by GRIMES". HMV Canada. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
25. "Halfaxa by Grimes". iTunes Store Australia. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
26. "Halfaxa par Grimes" (in French). iTunes Store France. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
27. ""Halfaxa" von Grimes" (in German). iTunes Store Germany. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
28. "Halfaxa by Grimes". iTunes Store UK. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
29. "Grimes – Halfaxa" (in German). Musicline.de. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
30. "Halfaxa: Grimes". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
31. "Halfaxa [VINYL]: Grimes". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
32. "CD album – Halfaxa : Grimes" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
33. "Vinyl album – Halfaxa : Grimes" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
34. "Halfaxa – Grimes". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
35. "Grimes – Halfaxa (2LP)" (in German). Musicline.de. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
36. "Halfaxa: Grimes". Amazon. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
37. Halfaxa, Arbutus Records, 2016-04-01, retrieved 2016-05-22

External links

• Halfaxa at Arbutus Records