Helena Hauff has shared two album tracks—namly “Hyper-Intelligent Genetically Enriched Cyborg” and “It Was All Fields Around Here When I Was A Kid”—ahead of the release of Qualm, her sophomore long-player. 

The album title has a duality that Hauff enjoys—the German word “Qualm” ( kvalm) translates as fumes or smoke, whilst the English meaning refers to an uneasy feeling of doubt, worry, or fear, especially about one’s own conduct. We’re told that the record is “unapologetically raw” and finds Hauff returning to her original modus operandi—jamming on her machines—“trying to create something powerful without using too many instruments and layers.” 

Last Wednesday, 150 hand-numbered white labels by an artist called HH253 found their way to a handful of independent stores and sold out in a matter of minutes. The same day a short film featuring music by HH253 appeared online, prompting unconfirmed rumours that limited copies of the album had been released early. 

Tracklisting

01. Barrow Boot Boys 

02. Lifestyle Guru 

03. Btdr-revisited 

04. Entropy Created You And Me 

05. Fag Butts In The Fire Bucket 

06. Hyper-Intelligent Genetically Enriched Cyborg 

07. The Smell Of Suds And Steel 

08. Primordial Sludge 

09. Qualm 

10. No Qualms 

11. Panegyric 

12. It Was All Fields Around Here When I Was A Kid  

Qualm is scheduled for August 3 release via Ninja Tune, with “Hyper-Intelligent Genetically Enriched Cyborg” and “It Was All Fields Around Here When I Was A Kid” streaming in full below.