In contrast to the first track we heard from Halls' forthcoming LP, Ark, the markedly spacious "White Chalk", "Roses for the Dead" is an understated anthem by the South London artist. A pattering rhythm carries singer/producer Sam Howard's downtrodden choirboy voice and softly glowing keys with its glitchy blips and ticks, dropping out intermittently only to return each time with stronger sounds and more driving force. Howard waxes nostalgic about "shadows", "light", and "bodies" while airy orchestral elements swell with intensity behind his anguished falsetto. But much like "White Chalk", it's the instrumentation that completes this one, as reverb-drenched strings and a distant brass section ruminate on the brooding melodic theme of "Roses for the Dead" during its final minute, until it all disappears once again into Ark's ever-present aether.

[from Ark; out 10/15/12 via No Pain in Pop]