With “Utopia,” Black Halo takes on the promise of the internet to bring us together with the reality of it tearing us apart.
Album Details
When the internet first arrived, pundits predicted a new utopia, with the “information superhighway” bringing people together. We’d share ideas, be more enlightened. Kinder. Society would flourish. Some predicted a new golden age of letter writing like the 1800s.
Nostradamus these people were not. They didn’t see the misinformation superhighway barreling toward us all. Or the cruelty of anonymity. The fringe groups surging with newfound strength in numbers. The deep fakes destroying lives. Or that we’d rather watch kids do dumb things on YouTube than become the next Socrates. And letter writing? Write an email with even two paragraphs and risk the snarky reply, “Thanks for the novel.”
Black Halo’s debut concept album, Utopia, and its title track tackle this contrast through the eyes of a troubled young man and woman. In a world so connected, they have only each other, but will it be enough when deep fakes, old mistakes, and indifference to pain find them?
Guitarist and main songwriter/lyricist Randy Ellefson sums up the album: “In a world so divided, maybe our disillusionment is the thing we all have in common.”
Please note that the album version of this song has a 37 second intro, whereas the “radioedit” of this song has the intro removed. The radio edit subsequently starts with the drum entrance.
Pre-Save Link
https://too.fm/blackhaloutopia
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Black Halo Bio
“Darkness falls, and I can hear your screams.”
The line from Black Halo’s “Darkness Falls” sums up the topics of their debut album, Utopia, and the band’s own struggles to get it recorded. Hard rock bands are known for songs about fast cars and even faster women, but Black Halo is tackling the troubles of our modern world head-on instead. Deep fakes. Substance abuse. Hatemongers. Depression. Isolation. The thought-provoking concept album follows two similarly troubled people whose demons threaten their dreams.
And it’s not unlike the duo behind Black Halo. When Maryland-based guitarist Randy Ellefson decided in 2009 that his fifth solo album would be the first with vocals, he had no idea singers would delay it for over fifteen years. The singers came and went one-by-one, six of them over seven years, each forcing Ellefson to start the vocals over (the rest of the album was done). One was Atlanta’s Chase Breedlove, whose personal troubles prompted his exit. Finally, Ellefson gave up.
“I honestly couldn’t take it anymore and just retired,” says Ellefson, who went on to write epic fantasy novels instead. But the project was never really forgotten. Years passed before he decided to try again, and this time, Breedlove had recovered and returned to get Utopia done. Released under the band name Black Halo, it’s still mostly Ellefson’s affair, but it’s a second chance for both men – maybe the same second chance their audience and the album’s main character seek. For Ellefson and Breedlove, the darkness has fallen and now there’s only the scream of triumph.
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Contact Information
For all inquiries, please email us at blackhalo@randyellefson.com.
Title Track Lyric Video