Halle Payne
In Dreams. At Dawn.
A breakup in two records — one dark and dreamy, one wide awake.
Confidential — unreleased music · Playback site
Halle Payne makes lyric-forward pop with a folk-rock backbone — intimate songs that effortlessly transform into full-band release. Her writing holds heartbreak, appetite, ambition, and self-invention in the same frame, delivered in a voice that is raspy, conversational, and unmistakably hers.
Directed by Kendall Alex Payne.
Watch the video (password: hallepayne)
Immediate voice, conflict, catharsis — the track that pulls you straight into the story.
Secure listening link hereAfter a four-year relationship ended and her ex began dating her closest friend, Halle left Nashville for London. Living above a record store's overstock studio, surrounded by Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Steely Dan, and Van Morrison records, she started writing — and didn't stop until she'd written her way to morning.
Those songs became In Dreams and At Dawn: one body of work in two movements.
The mind at night: betrayal, bargaining, dark humor, and the inability to let go.
The world returning: appetite, anger, family, agency, and the decision to move forward.
The discography's outlier — a 7-minute folk epic tracing one family's search for healing across generations — and a showcase for Halle's range as a writer.
Secure listening link hereProduced by James Russell — a London-based producer/engineer who has worked out of Abbey Road, British Grove, and RAK, with clients including BBC, ITV, and Sony Music — at Club Roar in Nashville over 23 days, with Aksel Coe on drums, Matt Chancey on bass, John McNally on guitar, and Andy Cata on keys. Strings were added back in London — a five-piece ensemble recorded in Studio 3 at Abbey Road.
Halle Payne — all songs
Additional writing credits:
Thomas Massad, Olivia Hurd, Jake Robuck — Haunted
Will Purton — Happiness Is Texas
Melanie Percy — Climb Into Bed
Alex Drummond — Tragic!
Producer: James Russell
Bass: Matthew Chancey
Drums: Aksel Coe
Keys & Synths: Andy Cata
Piano (Climb Into Bed): Brad Jones
Guitar, Pedal Steel: John McNally
Banjo (Happiness is Texas): Will Davis
Background Vocals: Katie Lynne Sharbaugh, Robin Eaton
Mixing & Mastering: James Russell
Conductor: Thomas Payne
Arranger: Cristina Muñoz Caamaño
Violin: Anna Kuzmina, Daniel Peev
Viola: Melissa Doody, John Hinchliffe
Cello: Ferec Necef
Recordist: Adam Lochemes
Assistant Engineer: Ed Farrell
Studio Runner: Leah Morris
Like a facetime from your best friend — funny, blunt, and personal — layered over timeless compositions.
"Yeah, babe, I came and conquered. Veni, Vidi, Vici of the hot and bothered."
"Be a dear and suffer just as much as me."
"He said 'sit,' 'roll over,' 'to your bed' — I know I need meditation, but I'd rather 'play dead!'"
Instagram 90-day figures via Instagram Insights, as of Aug 31, 2026 (current account: 27.8K followers). Also active on Spotify (758 followers) and YouTube (~1K subscribers).
Singing the ugly part out loud — the bite behind the melody.
Emotional power at full volume; roots-adjacent, built for a full band.
Humor-forward, culturally fluent, and organically shared.
Zero ad spend. Organic clips converting into real streams — a repeatable pattern across different songs and different years.
A viral essay-and-video series that connects Halle to album culture, criticism, and listeners who care specifically about great records made by women over 30 — and converts directly into an owned, retainable audience.
The writing travels as far as the video: the Hayley Williams essay alone drew 196.5K views, 21.2K likes, 993 reposts, and 3.3K shares. The series is the top of the funnel; the Substack is where that audience becomes hers.
A self-booked, self-promoted release show — The Victoria, Dalston (London) · £1,216 in ticket sales, no promoter. Performed across London and Nashville with a scalable band: solo/duo · 4-piece · 6-piece headline.
Kendall Alex Payne directs and produces every video and visual asset — from concept to final cut — with Halle, as the Payne Sisters. Vintage warmth, modern edge: the same visual language runs across the album covers, the videos, and the socials, produced in-house, at a fraction of typical agency costs.
No fixed 2027 schedule. The audience sets the pace — chapter two arrives when the data says so.
Lead single, from In Dreams, introduces the voice and the world. Test against real audience response.
Second single, also from In Dreams, proves range and scale. Confirm the lead-track hypothesis with data.
In Dreams releases in full. Build the live audience around what's working.
At Dawn follows once growth and engagement gates are met — not on a fixed date.
Halle has developed the songs, a live language, an asset bank, and a direct relationship with an audience that responds to her writing before a release is fully activated. The opportunity now is to turn that response into a durable artist career: choose the lead records, sharpen the positioning, build the live audience, and give each chapter enough runway to travel.
September 16 — EastWest Studios, Hollywood
6000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Stick around after either block to mingle.
With two completed records, we're looking to build the team around Halle — management, and a label or distribution partner — who can take disciplined release strategy, live development, and marketing to scale.