Skullcrusher And Your Song Is Like A Circle
Skullcrusher's And Your Song Is Like A Circle arrives as a careful, atmospheric excavation of memory and identity, a record whose quiet peaks answer the question of whether the album is worth listening to with affirmed nuance rather than outright declaration. Across five professional reviews, critics highlight Ballentine's intimate vocal center and the album's fusion of home-recorded immediacy with subtle electronica textures, producing a work that earned a 75.4/100 consensus score from reviewers who praise its mood even when they note occasional glacial pacing.
The critical consensus emphasizes continuity and atmosphere as the record's chief strengths: reviewers consistently point to the cohesion of the collection and the way themes of escapism versus realism, dissociation, grief and transformation thread through its songs. Standout tracks emerge repeatedly as useful entry points — “March”, praised across all five reviews for its haunting, rolling finality; “Exhale”, noted for its giddy, textural lift; and “Vessel”, celebrated for its soaring arpeggios. Other critics single out “Red Car” and “Changes” as luminous moments that pair fragile lyricism with ethereal textures.
While some reviewers find stretches slow or deliberately oblique, the prevailing view among music critics is that the record rewards close, repeated listening: its best songs are quietly unforgettable rather than instant, radio-ready hits. For listeners searching for the best songs on And Your Song Is Like A Circle or wondering what critics say about the album, the consensus suggests a richly atmospheric, emotionally precise collection that deepens Skullcrusher's songwriting and sonic palette and stakes a distinct place in her evolving catalog.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Vessel (duplicate mention handled above)
1 mention
"Listen to: Red Car, Dragon, Vessel"— The Skinny
March
5 mentions
"take the rolling waves that crash in the background of ‘March’’s close"— DIY Magazine
Red Car
2 mentions
"Red Car glints with gentle guitars, despite the glaring hues and vivid images."— The Skinny
Listen to: Red Car, Dragon, Vessel
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
March
Dragon
Living
Maelstrom
Changes
Periphery
Red Car
Exhale
Vessel
The Emptying
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 5 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Skullcrusher's And Your Song Is Like a Circle presents its best tracks as quiet excavations of self, where “Red Car”, “Dragon” and “Vessel” stand out. Pepin's voice is observant and exacting, noting how “Red Car” glints with gentle guitars even as memory distorts, and how “Dragon” blurs harmonies with clashing drums. The reviewer privileges atmosphere and vocal daring, arguing these songs best reveal the album's grappling with dissociation and grief. This is a record whose top songs reward close listening, rewarding those seeking the best tracks on And Your Song Is Like a Circle with haunting, resonant moments.
Key Points
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Red Car is the best song for its gentle guitars and vivid, glinting imagery.
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The album's core strengths are Ballentine's versatile, ethereal vocals and its thematic focus on dissociation and searching for meaning.
Themes
Critic's Take
Skullcrusher returns with And Your Song Is Like A Circle, where the best songs - notably “Living” and “Vessel” - crystallize Ballentine's haunted, introspective strengths. The reviewer lingers on “Living” as a sweet, searching bildungsroman that nurses the quotidian into something worth examining, and praises “Vessel” for its defiant, upward-soaring arpeggios as a triumphant volta. Lesser moments like “Changes” are called slow to the point of frustration, but the album's move into synths and distorted vocals gives several tracks an expanded emotional reach. Overall, the best tracks on And Your Song Is Like A Circle are those that pair Ballentine's sparse instinct with bolder instrumentation, producing the album's most affecting moments.
Key Points
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The best song is "Vessel" because it climaxes emotionally with defiant, upward-soaring arpeggios and lyrical acceptance.
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The album's core strengths are Ballentine's spare lyricism, atmospheric production, and successful incorporation of electronica into alt-folk.
Themes
Critic's Take
Skullcrusher extends the floaty, untethered atmosphere of her debut on And Your Song Is Like A Circle, moving through isolation-wrought vignettes with haunting production and intimate recording techniques. The review privileges the album as a unified work rather than a song-by-song showcase, yet points to the giddy “Exhale” and the spiritually a cappella “March” as clearest high points. Ballentine's experiments with contact-mic vocals, field recordings, and washes of drone make tracks like “Maelstrom” and “Dragon” land with particular textural weight. Ultimately the strength of the record lies in its cohesive mood and moments of clarity that cut through the haze.
Key Points
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The best song is “Exhale” for its rare, catchy buoyancy within an otherwise atmospheric record.
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The album's core strength is its cohesive, otherworldly atmosphere built from home recordings, contact-mic vocals, and layered textures.
Themes
Critic's Take
Skullcrusher’s And Your Song Is Like A Circle is a devastating rumination that makes its best songs quietly unforgettable. The review singles out “March” for its rolling waves that crash at the close and “Changes” for its ethereal, finger-plucked delicacy, marking them as the album’s clearest highlights. Ballantine’s lyrics and vocals, at once gorgeous and shadowed by darkness, make tracks like “March” and “Changes” the best tracks on And Your Song Is Like A Circle, songs that haunt long after the record ends. The record’s sparse yet rich sonics reward repeated listening, so queries for the best songs on this album should begin with those two luminous moments.
Key Points
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The best song is “March” because its closing waves and emotional weight mark it as the record’s haunting apex.
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The album’s core strengths are sparse but rich sonics, evocative lyrics, and a consistent mood of grief and searching.
Themes
Critic's Take
Skullcrusher’s And Your Song Is Like A Circle is a record of evaporating memories, and its best songs are the moments that briefly cohere before vanishing. The reviewer repeatedly singles out “Changes” for its drone ambitions and “March” for setting the intimate tone, while tracks like “Maelstrom” and “Exhale” are praised for their clashing voices and hazes of synth. Ballentine’s voice remains at the emotional centre, making these subdued peaks the clearest answers to questions about the best tracks on And Your Song Is Like A Circle. The album is compelling and mesmerizing, even when its drifting nature makes footholds scarce.
Key Points
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“Changes” is the album’s best moment because it briefly attempts to lift off with drone and synth power while remaining hauntingly fragile.
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The album’s core strengths are Ballentine’s intimate voice, evocative atmospheres, and the tension between human vulnerability and electronic texture.