Qualm is the second studio album by German electronic music DJ and record producer Helena Hauff. It was released on 3 August 2018 by Ninja Tune.[1] The album was critically acclaimed and the track "Hyper-Intelligent Genetically Enriched Cyborg" was named as one of the best electronic tracks of 2018 by Pitchfork.[2] In comparison to her previous album, Discreet Desires (2015), the tracks on it had more traditional song structure and they were "more poppier."[3]
The title has multiple definitions. The German meaning of "qualm" is "smoke" or "fumes", as in English language, it is "an uneasy feeling of doubt, worry, or fear."[5]
Qualm received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[7]Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork stated that Qualm is a "spartan mix of techno, acid, EBM, and coldwave".[14] Nathan Wesley of The Line of Best Fit opined that the album is a "nocturnal, adventurous album that sees Hauff take a progressive leap forward from her 2015 debut Discreet Desires."[18] Andrew Moore of Clash remarked that Qualm is a "statement of romantic infatuation amongst an otherwise hash, twisted and raw landscape. A glance into the past and a look to the future."[10]
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