Halle – Interlude

An interlude is a pause between two bigger moments. In a long album it works like the break in a church service, the short silence before the next hymn, or the minutes between acts at a stage show. It gives the listener a chance to breathe and think about what they have just heard.

I like that Halle includes one on the project. A record about love with a question mark in its title needs room to think, because feelings rarely arrive in a straight line. They loop back, they hesitate, they go quiet for a while and then return. An interlude is a fair way to show that.

It also says something about how the album is arranged. Placing a short piece in the middle of the tracklist suggests a shape to the project, with chapters instead of a random pile of songs. Whether you listen to it in order or jump around, you can feel the intention behind the placement.

This one belongs to the part of the night when the talking has stopped, the lights are low and you are just sitting with your own thoughts.

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