Skullcrusher is the project of Los Angeles songwriter Helen Ballentine, pairing whisper-soft vocals with gauzy folk and a gentle ambient glow.

Warm hush, sharp focus

After intimate home EPs, the full-length Quiet the Room widened her palette with piano, tape texture, and small-room percussion.

Songs to expect, softly

Expect a set that moves slow and close, likely touching Places/Plans, Song for Nick Drake, Farm, and Storm in Summer. The crowd tends to be mixed in age, with people leaning in, pockets of friends quietly trading favorite lines, and phones staying down until the last note rings. Trivia worth knowing includes early work with producer Noah Weinman of Runnner and a habit of using a nylon-string guitar with a high capo for that soft bloom. She also came from the art world before music, which shows up in visuals and pacing that feel curated rather than flashy. Note that any talk of the setlist or stage choices here is informed guesswork, not confirmed plans.

The quiet scene around Skullcrusher shows

You see earth tones, worn knits, and zines tucked into tote bags, but the clothes feel chosen for comfort and care.

Quiet manners, full focus

People tend to hold chatter for the gaps, then offer small cheers for a good harmony or a clean guitar figure.

Little rituals, slow souvenirs

Soft singalongs surface on the chorus of Places/Plans, more a breath than a belt, and a few hands keep time on knees instead of clapping loud. Merch skews tactile, with risograph prints, cassettes, and vinyl in muted colors, plus a lyric sheet that fans actually read between sets. The mood nods to house-show folk from the 2010s, where the point is close listening and letting the room sound guide your focus. After the encore, conversations are about textures, field sounds, and a line that stuck rather than rankings or volume debates.

How Skullcrusher builds a hush that holds

Live, Skullcrusher keeps the voice close to the mic, almost conversational, which lets the small changes in tone carry the emotion.

Sound as a lantern in a dark room

Guitars favor fingerpicking and ringing open shapes, with piano restating hooks in a softer color when needed.

Small choices, big feeling

Drums stay light with brushes or mallets, and the bass tends to bloom rather than thump, leaving room for harmonies to float. Tempos rarely rush, and songs often stretch the intro or coda by a few breaths, turning silence into part of the arrangement. One subtle habit is dropping guitar voicings down a whole step and pairing a high capo, which keeps chords warm while her voice sits in a gentle mid range. Visuals lean on warm washes and dim cues so the ear leads the eye, and the band supports by shaving off sharp edges in their tones.

If you like Skullcrusher, kindred voices await

Fans of Phoebe Bridgers often find a similar quiet intensity here, with soft tones that still carry heavy feeling.

Neighboring constellations

Julie Byrne shares the patient fingerpicking and air between notes, drawing focus to breath and space.

Why the overlap feels natural

Adrianne Lenker is a touchstone for fragile melody lines and a diaristic writing style that blooms live. If you like hushed spiritual folk, Tomberlin walks the same lane, trading in understatement and careful dynamics. These links come from sound and room feel more than genre tags, since each artist favors stillness that amplifies detail. Chances are if a listener shows up early for openers at one of these shows, they will be at ease in a Skullcrusher crowd too.