Biography
Helen Ballentine crafts delicate, reflective tracks exploring doubt and self-discovery through her Skullcrusher project. Though her soft, atmospherically tinged folk style contrasts sharply with that alias, it evokes profound sensations of void and despair.
Her initial release, the Skullcrusher EP from 2020, garnered swift praise as her debut set of material. Drawing from recollections of youth, her first album-length effort under the moniker, Quiet the Room, came out in 2022 under the production of Andrew Sarlo.
Hailing from Upstate New York, she took up piano during childhood and later guitar while in high school. Relocating to Los Angeles, she obtained a graphic design qualification, yet after taking a full-time gallery position, dissatisfaction led her to resign. She then committed to music instead, starting to craft her initial compositions.
Collaborating with producer and musician Noah Weinman, Ballentine captured her self-titled Skullcrusher EP, issued via Secretly Canadian during July 2020. Receiving positive responses, she composed most of the project's first album by herself in her Los Angeles residence during an exceptionally warm summer in 2021. Her primary creative spark came from detailed recollections of growing up in Mount Vernon, New York.
To lay down the tracks, Ballentine and Weinman brought in Andrew Sarlo, known for work with Big Thief and Hovvdy, to work together at Chicken Shack, a farm-based studio located in the Hudson Valley. This process yielded the fourteen-track Quiet the Room, which Secretly Canadian put out in October 2022.
Her initial release, the Skullcrusher EP from 2020, garnered swift praise as her debut set of material. Drawing from recollections of youth, her first album-length effort under the moniker, Quiet the Room, came out in 2022 under the production of Andrew Sarlo.
Hailing from Upstate New York, she took up piano during childhood and later guitar while in high school. Relocating to Los Angeles, she obtained a graphic design qualification, yet after taking a full-time gallery position, dissatisfaction led her to resign. She then committed to music instead, starting to craft her initial compositions.
Collaborating with producer and musician Noah Weinman, Ballentine captured her self-titled Skullcrusher EP, issued via Secretly Canadian during July 2020. Receiving positive responses, she composed most of the project's first album by herself in her Los Angeles residence during an exceptionally warm summer in 2021. Her primary creative spark came from detailed recollections of growing up in Mount Vernon, New York.
To lay down the tracks, Ballentine and Weinman brought in Andrew Sarlo, known for work with Big Thief and Hovvdy, to work together at Chicken Shack, a farm-based studio located in the Hudson Valley. This process yielded the fourteen-track Quiet the Room, which Secretly Canadian put out in October 2022.
Albums
Singles
Words Come Back
2023
It's Like a Secret
2022
They Quiet the Room b/w Quiet the Room
2022
Whatever Fits Together
2022
Cloudy Shoes
2021
Song for Nick Drake
2021
Farm b/w Lift
2020
Live
