Any Random Kindness examines the search for connection in an increasingly fractured world. It’s the follow up to 2016’s intricately-layered, trip hop-influenced Full Circle, a debut album “that both cements them in a genre and leaves them room to grow” (Pitchfork).
The first full album cycle for HÆLOS was a baptism of fire, and the year-long creation of Any Random Kindness pushed HÆLOS to the edge and back again. On winding up the Full Circle tour in January 2017, the trio -- Lotti Benardout, Arthur Delaney, and Dom Goldsmith -- returned to London and immediately installed touring guitarist Daniel Vildósola as a full-time member of the band. His classical background and technical prowess brought a new level of musicality and equilibrium to the band.
For Any Random Kindness, HÆLOS reassessed their creative approach, conducting songwriting experiments - writing a song an hour or finishing a track and then stripping it down and completely re-doing it. Delaney returned to writing on acoustic guitar, while Goldsmith retreated into his love of dance music and the minimal techno of Ricardo Villalobos.
The band recorded the album with producer Orlando Leopard at Baltic Studios in East London and at their home studio, and it was mixed by Matt Wiggins (Glass Animals) and Marta Salongi (The xx, Bjork). The latter part of the recording was especially tense, with many near breakups. However, this process led to a new, optimistic perception of each other, and music that explored the push and pull of relationships. A new, increasingly dance-floor oriented direction to their sound emerged.
Throughout Any Random Kindess, HÆLOS refer to different facets that affect the modern world - the isolating nature of technology and social media, the looming climate change, their relationships with each other, and corrupt politics, as heard on “Kyoto,” a glitchy, yet catchy slice of electronica that critiques politicians who prioritize economics above the environment.