Skullcrusher - And Your Song Is Like A Circle (Album Review)
Thursday, 06 November 2025
Written by Jeremy Blackmore
Photo: Adam Alonzo
Skullcrusher’s ‘And Your Song Is Like A Circle’ is a gorgeous, shimmering slice of folk with layered, ghostly harmonies. With songs built around elegant piano and acoustic guitar, plus scattered electronics and beats, New York singer-songwriter Helen Ballentine creates a dreamscape as she probes the way grief turns itself out, the feeling itself becoming as real and substantial as what’s been lost.
This dreamy palette perfectly captures the mood of the writing, which explores memories, dreams and the imagination, places where those we mourn still reside. It’s Ballentine at her most vulnerable and human, her hushed vocals lending a confessional air to the material.
On opener March, sung against a plaintive piano backing and a haunting backing vocal, Ballentine surrenders herself to the things she’s missing and confronts the beauty and terror in the unknown. Coming to terms with change is another recurring theme.
Dragon, meanwhile, has a hazy, spectral beauty, drawing on anime movie Spirited Away for inspiration, exploring how we use dissociation as armour or protection. Sometimes, though, you need to feel the weight of living to keep yourself grounded, she warns, singing like a mantra: “The weight is heavy / and I fall to my knees.”
People watching on a walk through Brooklyn inspired Living, in which she wonders whether her life is part of a grand production or if it exists as a small detail, somewhere offstage. Malestrom’s looping, ghostly harmonies reflect repeating, overwhelming cycles of grief but breakup song Changes is perhaps the most sonically adventurous.
Initially sparse with a gentle acoustic bed, it exudes unsettling sadness, as Ballentine accepts she would not have done anything differently. The song’s ending suggests the journey ahead may not be easy as a variety of instruments combine in a dissonant melee. The fittingly Lynchian closer The Emptying reflects on Ballentine’s visceral, out-of-body reaction to the twist ending to Inland Empire. But, far from a nightmarish climax, it finds her gently moving forward, while understanding the burden of grief and loss that lives within us all.
Skullcrusher Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri March 13 2026 - PHILADELPHIA Pennsylvania - Johnny Brendas (USA)
Sat March 14 2026 - WASHINGTON District of Columbia - Atlantis (USA)
Mon March 16 2026 - CARRBORO North Carolina - Back Room at Cats Cradle (USA)
Tue March 17 2026 - ATLANTA Georgia - Earl (USA)
Wed March 18 2026 - NASHVILLE Tennessee - 3rd and Lindsley (USA)
Fri March 20 2026 - AUSTIN Texas - Ballroom - Spider House (USA)
Sat March 21 2026 - DALLAS Texas - Club Dada (USA)
Wed March 25 2026 - LOS ANGELES California - Lodge Room at Highland Park (USA)
Fri March 27 2026 - SAN FRANCISCO California - Cafe Du Nord (USA)
Sun March 29 2026 - PORTLAND Oregon - Mississippi Studios (USA)
Mon March 30 2026 - SEATTLE Washington - Barboza (USA)
Tue March 31 2026 - VANCOUVER British Columbia - Biltmore Cabaret (Canada)
Thu April 02 2026 - BOISE Idaho - Basement at Shrine Social Club - Complex (USA)
Fri April 03 2026 - SALT LAKE CITY Utah - Kilby Court (USA)
Sat April 04 2026 - DENVER Colorado - Globe Hall (USA)
Mon April 06 2026 - SAINT PAUL Minnesota - Turf Club at First Avenue - Complex (USA)
Tue April 07 2026 - CHICAGO Illinois - Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall at Old Town School of Folk Music - Complex (USA)
Thu April 09 2026 - TORONTO Ontario - Drake Underground (Canada)
Fri April 10 2026 - MONTREAL Quebec - Bar Le Ritz PDB (Canada)
Wed April 15 2026 - BROOKLYN New York - Music Hall Of Williamsburg (USA)
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
