Halfaxa

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Album
Critical Reception
Physical Release
Halfaxa is the second studio album by Grimes. It was released in Canada on September 30, 2010, by Arbutus Records, and in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe in February 2011 by Lo Recordings. 
The default version, released by Arbutus, has a length of 50:01, while the Lo Recordings pressings version features 2 exclusive tracks — ∆∆∆∆Rasik∆∆∆∆ and Heartbeats — which make up a total running time of 56:23.
Grimes does not own the rights to Halfaxa, and as a result she does not make any money from the album in any form. In 2016 she gave "permission" to her fans to pirate the music, suggesting downloading the songs for free on Bandcamp.https://grimes-claireboucher.tumblr.com/post/137177684315/if-you-are-a-grimes-fanfanpage-please-reblog
==Background==
===Inspiration===
The inspiration for Halfaxa was "European medieval history [books]" and "medieval savagery,"Voir/Interview explaining to Nightlife.ca:Nightlife.ca/2011/Interview
Grimes said that "This album is mostly about [her] vacation in Halifax where [she] went to see [her] friend Duffy and [she] had a fun week there, staying at [Duffy's] house and eating snacks "and stuff"; went to the harbor."https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?si=o_hO9-rwgy9ttBmT&t=192 
====Name====
The album was named after the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, but Grimes wanted to invent a new word so she made the city's name "sound a bit more like a girls' name".https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=212 Before being named Halfaxa the album went through working titles of Glossolaliahttps://youtu.be/09M6iUuKGJ4?t=130 and Dragvandil;https://web.archive.org/web/20181207113611/http://www.nofearofpop.net/blog/its-getting-darker1 it was referred to as Dragvandil as late as July 2010.
==Composition==
Grimes' influences while making the album were Salem, Burial, Al Green, medieval choral music and Mariah Carey, with the latter serving as a primary vocal influence as stated in an interview with DMY:https://dmy.co/new-music/grimes-interview-so-many-worlds
===Production===
Grimes described the sound of the album as the following:https://exclaim.ca/music/article/grimes_talks_medieval_times_of_halfaxa
Grimes sampled her friends' cat Voignamir on the album (on Weregild and Swan Song) due to the cat continuously meowing. Buses can also be heard on this album due to the album being recorded close to a broken part of the road.https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=240
==Release and Promotion==
Weregild was released in July 2010https://middayprocrastination.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/new-grimes-track-from-upcoming-release-and-other-arbutus-news/ and Devon was released the following month.https://www.gorillavsbear.net/grimes-halfaxa/ The album was officially released on September 30, 2010 but an early version of the album was given to people who attended Grimes' 2010 Canada tour with Pop Winds as early as August 1, 2010.https://www.discogs.com/release/7352986-Grimes-Halfaxa The album got a re-release in February 2011 through Lo Recordings with a new artwork and Heartbeats as a bonus track. The album was again re-released in 2016 by Arbutus Records however the tracks ∆∆∆∆Rasik∆∆∆∆ and Heartbeats were excluded from this version (most likely due to the former having an unauthorized sample and the latter being owned by Lo Recordings).https://www.discogs.com/release/8228555-Grimes-Halfaxa https://www.discogs.com/release/8228555-Grimes-Halfaxa
==Album Visuals==
===Album Artwork===
Halfaxa cover.png|Standard
Halfaxa album artwork (Lo Recordings).jpeg|Lo Recordings
Halfaxa alt album artwork.jpg|Alternative artworkhttps://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=169
The standard album cover was made quickly in Photoshop days before the release of the album.https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=169 In 2020, she said the alternate artwork is the "superior one" and the "official cover".
===Misc===
Halfaxa era artwork 001.jpg|https://www.discogs.com/release/2761004-Grimes-Halfaxa
Halfaxa era artwork 002.jpg|
Halfaxa era artwork 003.jpg|
Halfaxa era artwork 004.jpg|
Halfaxa_Artwork.jpg|
Dragvandil.png|Original artwork: Dragvandilhttps://web.archive.org/web/20181207113611/https://www.nofearofpop.net/blog/its-getting-darker1
From the Lo Recordings CD sleeve.
==Tracklist==
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===Outtakes===
*Fifteen Minutes Tohttps://youtu.be/09M6iUuKGJ4?t=139
*whoknoidontnohttps://soundcloud.com/actuallygrimes/d-r-o-m-e-whoknoidontno
==Credits ==
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Halfaxa. 
*Grimes – vocals, production, composition, illustrations
*Jasper Baydala – design
*Sebastian Cowan – mastering (tracks 1–4, tracks 6–16)
*Antony Ryan – mastering (track 5)
==Trivia==
*Originally, Grimes wanted to release an EP before Halfaxa, because initially there were no plans to release Halfaxa for free "because [she] believe[s] music should be free".
*Grimes considers this her most underrated album.https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?t=261
*Grimes no longer has any of the raw files for the album, telling Connect Savannah: "When I made those records, I never thought anyone was going to hear them. So when they were done I just deleted them so I could have space on my computer hard drive."https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/grimes-in-a-dangerous-spot/Content?oid=2136561
* Grimes described the album's sound as "lo-fi ethereal hardcore" in an interview for Pitchfork, when asked to describe it in three words.https://youtu.be/umoqd0VbRI4?si=zDQkhjxjbyKAzG0d&t=156
*Grimes had intended this to be 'the water album' "I’m a water sign (pisces) – and this album was actually meant to be the water album, but then it turned into what it is, but it has nothing to do with dark water, or really water at all. I think things need to be really high fi to sound like water, but I do think Halfaxa is very cold".https://web.archive.org/web/20120513131629/http://forthebeat.com/blog/2010/09/interview-with-grimes/
*The album artwork is a stylized view of a sculpture of a classical goddess, likely Venus.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Arles
==References==
Category:Discography
Category:Albums
Category:2010