Hal (band)
Encyclopedia
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from Killiney
Killiney
Killiney is a suburb of Dublin in south County Dublin, Ireland. It is within the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County. The area is by the coast, south of neighbouring Dalkey, and north to Shankill area in the most southern outskirt of Dublin....
, Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
composed of brothers
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
Dave Allen (vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) and Paul Allen (vocals/bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Stephen O'Brien (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, occasional guitars and backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
) (drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s), who formed in 2003.
Biography
Hal were signed to Rough Trade RecordsRough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
in 2004 following competition between several record label.
Their first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Worry About the Wind" was released in 2004. This single was well received by the press
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
, and many claimed that Hal would become 'the' band of 2004. Their self-titled debut album
Hal (album)
Hal is the eponymous debut of Irish band Hal, released by Rough Trade Records on May 10, 2005.-Track listing:#"What a Lovely Dance" #"Play the Hits" #"Keep Your Love as Your Golden Rule"...
was one of the best reviewed albums of 2005. "What a Lovely Dance" and "Play the Hits" were prominently featured on Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
and World Cup 2004. "Don't Come Running" / "I Sat Down" were released as a double A-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
single. The band also released "Keep Love As Your Golden Rule" on a split 7" single with (The Magic Numbers)
They also contributed their cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's "Mind Games
Mind Games (song)
"Mind Games" is a song written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1973 on Apple Records, catalogue Apple 1868 in the US and Apple R5994 in the UK. It peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #26 on the British singles chart...
" for a Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
special CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in October 2005.
The band toured worldwide in 2004 and 2005, enjoying TV and radio coverage as well as performing supporting shows for bands such as The Doves and The Thrills. the band went back into the recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
at the end of 2005. Their second album was originally expected to be released in 2007, but did not in fact appear until five years later.
In August 2010, the band announced that they are working on their next album on their website and Facebook page. On September 10, 2010, the band gave a short interview and performed live on RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
. According to lead singer Dave Allen, the album will be called "The Time, The Hour", and would be released in April 2011, with a single to be released in November 2010. However, as of November 2011 the album has still not materialised and a 2011 release date is looking extremely unlikely, with no public explanation or apology offered by the band. Two singles, 'Close to Her' and 'Be With You' are available.
Awards
- The Irish Post Best Newcomer Award 2005
- European Border Breakers Award 2006, awarded by the European Commission in Cannes in January 2006
- Best Irish Album of 2005 in the Irish Independent
- Nr.1 album van 2005 in French music magazine MAGIC
- One of the albums of 2005 in Mojo and Uncut
Nominations
- Choice Award 2005 in Ireland. Hal played live at the award show in Dublin
- Best Irish Band of 2005 at the Irish Music Awards
Albums
- HalHal (album)Hal is the eponymous debut of Irish band Hal, released by Rough Trade Records on May 10, 2005.-Track listing:#"What a Lovely Dance" #"Play the Hits" #"Keep Your Love as Your Golden Rule"...
(2005) - UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#31 - "The Time, The Hour" (2012)
Singles
- "Worry About the Wind" (26 April 2004) - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#53 - "What a Lovely Dance" (24 January 2005) - IRE #19, UK #36
- "Play the Hits" (11 April 2005) - UK #38
- "Don't Come Running" / "I Sat Down" (15 August 2005)
External links
- http://www.myspace.com/hal
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/HAL/101655069891243 , http://twitter.com/Halmusic
- http://www.halmusic.com/
- http://breakingtunes.com/hal