{"product_id":"hello-shark-the-river-cassette-tape","title":"HELLO SHARK \"The River\" cassette tape","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLST-148 HELLO SHARK \"The River\" Cassette Tape\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRelease date November 6th, 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEdition of 100 cassette tapes with full color J-card and download code\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe River is Lincoln Halloran’s first album as Hello Shark in a decade.\u003c\/strong\u003e Since the project’s 2011 debut, the Kittery, Maine-based songwriter has favored sparse arrangements and contemplative, heartfelt lyricism. The River, the project’s fourth and most fully realized record, marks the return of a \u003cstrong\u003ebeloved singer-songwriter\u003c\/strong\u003e and affirms why Hello Shark has continued to grow a devoted following even in absentia. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn 2018, Halloran left Philadelphia\u003c\/strong\u003e, where he had been living for the past five years, and floated around the south, working odd service jobs. “I was pretty down and out, not writing or playing shows,” he says. \u003cstrong\u003e“I was a very functioning alcoholic, but then it became not too functioning.”\u003c\/strong\u003e In 2022, he moved back to Maine, where his family now lives, and was hospitalized. As Halloran acclimated to sobriety, he began writing songs in earnest for the first time in many years. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHalloran is hesitant to describe The River as an album about sobriety.\u003c\/strong\u003e “It’s about looking back and grieving over living in a dark tunnel for so long,” he says, “not fully available to people who are close to me.” Though \u003cstrong\u003eHello Shark’s music is rooted in reflection\u003c\/strong\u003e, Halloran now realizes that he had struggled to fully face the past, always changing names, fumbling details, relying on the distance of time and space. “Getting sober gave me the freedom to actually look,” Halloran says. “Once I started doing that, I could write an honest-sounding song.” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe River opens with the title track, which Halloran calls \u003cstrong\u003e“the first time I’ve written a song that’s accurate to life at the moment, or in the present tense.”\u003c\/strong\u003e The song describes a simple but steady life with a partner, a job at the old crooner bar, and a home down by the water. “I sold my truck\/And I killed my plug\/It’s been two years, but I still miss her,” Halloran softly croons, \u003cstrong\u003eaccompanied by harmonies from Florry’s Francie Medosch\u003c\/strong\u003e. The image of solid roots planted perilously close to a rushing current speaks to Halloran’s reality: in recovery while still slinging drinks at a local jazz bar. As he puts it, “I'm away from the moving chaos, but I stay close to it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRecorded with producer Garrett Linck\u003c\/strong\u003e, The River blends \u003cstrong\u003eslowcore sprawl and introspective singer-songwriter tunes\u003c\/strong\u003e. Across these 10 tracks, Halloran’s matter of fact lyricism captures moments of interpersonal minutiae, with stripped-down stories full of I’s and you’s. These songs touch on themes of longing and avoidance, with an emotional heft elevated by \u003cstrong\u003eHalloran’s conversational yet idiosyncratic voice\u003c\/strong\u003e. “In Hell” opens in media res, as he stumbles outside a bar and spots a now distant friend. “I loved watching you laughing\/Outside, holding your friend crying,” he wistfully croaks, “‘Cause you’re moving home\/Are you still?” He finds profound reserves in the spaces between people, like on “The Moon,” an elegiac ode that finds comfort in the glow of the TV screen. Ultimately, \u003cstrong\u003eThe River is a clear-eyed album that looks to the past as a means of moving forward and welcomes listeners with a tender embrace.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lost Sound Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47412447543465,"sku":"LST-148","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1228\/6722\/files\/hellosharktheriversquare.jpg?v=1788885483","url":"https:\/\/lostsoundtapes.com\/products\/hello-shark-the-river-cassette-tape","provider":"Lost Sound Tapes","version":"1.0","type":"link"}