Neil Halstead

Since the early '90s, when Neil Halstead issued some of the era's strongest shoegaze singles and albums alongside Slowdive, he has gradually earned recognition as one of Britain's most admired songwriters. Although that band prioritized texture over conventional songcraft, its evolution into Mojave 3 during the mid-'90s gave Halstead room to pursue the late-'60s folk-rock influences that had captured his attention. Throughout this period he managed to invite comparisons to those artists while avoiding charges of simple imitation or empty nostalgia.

Not long after Mojave 3 delivered its third album, Excuses for Travellers, in 2000, Halstead lost his regular housing following a breakup and temporarily lived in a studio. Several unfinished Mojave 3 tracks were available, so he used the opportunity to lay them down with a solo release in mind. Once he secured permanent lodging he continued the sessions sporadically over the next year, working with Mojave 3 drummer Ian McCutcheon, longtime collaborator Mark Van Hoen of Locust, and Coley Park's Nick Holton. The resulting record, Sleeping on Roads, appeared on 4AD in 2002 and shifted away from the American reference points often linked to Mojave 3—Bob Dylan and Neil Young—in favor of British ones such as Bert Jansch and Nick Drake. By the time of its release Halstead was already planning the next project; Oh! Mighty Engine came out in 2008 on Jack Johnson's Brushfire imprint. Following an extended hiatus he reentered the studio with Nick Holton producing, completing Palindrome Hunches in four days of live takes backed by the Band of Hope; Brushfire issued the album in September 2012.