Bristol’s genre-blurring four-piece HAAL are back in the mix with their latest sonic shapeshifter, Plate 43 (…Or Standing on the Toes of Giants). Clocking in at a sprawling seven minutes, the new track is a kaleidoscopic journey through sound, emotion, and time — the kind of slow-burn epic that grabs you by the collar and doesn’t let go. Watch the visualizer via YouTube below.
It arrives hot on the heels of their critically-praised EP ‘Back To Shilmarine’ (which even caught Thurston Moore’s ear), a release that sparked remixes from JUICE (Ollie Judge of Squid) and Water From Your Eyes, plus a run of UK dates and festival slots including ArcTanGent, Wanderlust, and Outer Town.
This new single takes HAAL’s twisted toolkit of samples, handmade pedals, and tectonic guitars and stretches it to widescreen proportions. It’s a dense, beautifully disorienting piece, bolstered by contributions from some serious underground talent: Tom Connolly (Quade) brings haunting violin, while Otto Wild and Evo Ethel (of Geoff Barrow-approved no wave crew Ex-Agent) fire up the saxophones.
The track’s name nods to a piece by Goya (Plate 43) and spirals into themes of existential weight and the search for meaning through creation. Musically, think shadowy guitar mazes, eerie soundbites (yes, even from 2001: A Space Odyssey), and a finale that rips the sky open with soaring post-rock intensity before distilling everything down into a raw, rhythmic outro of saxes, bass, and guitars trading blows over industrial pulses.
Talking about the track, vocalist Alfie Hay shares: “This one actually started back in 2019 with just a couple of chords. I kind of let my subconscious take the wheel, and the phrase ‘Pressure on the Wall’ just came out of me — it ended up becoming the mantra that threads through the whole piece. At its core, I think it’s a love letter to creativity. That urge to make something — anything — just to fill the space with meaning. Sometimes, the meaning is the making.”
The visual side of Plate 43 is equally compelling. For the single artwork and video, HAAL once again tapped into their tight-knit creative circle. Artist Will Newcombe built the visuals using a bizarrely poetic stash of over 100GB of vintage photos salvaged from a dumpster by an American explorer of trash treasures. These found-film memories — some dating back to the 1950s — breathe eerie, poignant life into the release.
“It’s like flicking through a family photo album that doesn’t belong to you — or anyone you’ve ever known,” says Hay. “It’s deeply moving. These were real people, and now, in a strange way, they’re part of our story too.”
Plate 43 (…Or Standing on the Toes of Giants) is out now on Babka Records — stream it wherever you get your audio thrills.
Full-time HAAL crew:
- Alfie Hay – vocals, guitar, sampling
- Ethan Jones – synths, samples
- Joe Collins – bass, backing vocals
- Joe Frost – drums, percussion
Also featuring:
- Tom Connolly – violin
- Otto Wild & Evo Ethel – saxophones
- Anna Ryan – additional vocals
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