Holy Other - Held Review
rating: 4
Simply, if you love Burials 2-step elegies its likely youll enjoy this. Holy Others debut follows on quite gracefully from his With U EP released last year, and the codeine-laced vibe is similarly chilled and soothing. What makes the album so great is the masterful use of pitch-shifted vocal samples that morph into masculine and feminine shapes at an impressively effortless pace. Youd also be hard-pressed to find any rough edges during the course of the album, and I havent heard vocal samples toyed with so effectively since Burials Kindred EP earlier this year. Tense Past deploys a child-like voice that is incredibly emotive, sounding like a diva wail thats had the unnecessary vocal showboating bits lopped off so it can sharply pierce you where it counts. The exquisitely detailed craftsmanship continues with Love Some1 and its soft feminine voice that loops over itself like incoming waves atop a subtle and moody orchestral surge. Three minutes in another more intelligibly-formed voice eases in, relaying what sounds like the words what goes on? in a mantra-like fashion. In Differences mournful masculine groan is joined by a sweet and slightly hard-edged female voice that duet in tandem, seemingly saying eat my heart or feed my heart over lethargically tapped percussion. In Pourings use of a heavily melancholic vocal sample enunciating itself in varying pitches is very effective. Rock-hard finger clicking and 80s-sounding bell-synths compound a song that manages to blend the moodiness of Massive Attack with the nostalgic appeal of an old ballad you havent heard in forever. The heart-attack BPM of U Know stems from a footwork influence and adds a disorientating drug-like slur to the albums atmosphere; quick-smart beats over a sluggish vocal sample. Two and a half minutes in a monotonous industrial rumble is reminiscent of Fever Rays If I Had a Heart which feels apt considering that Fever Rays own album utilised deformed voices to complement a memorable other-world feeling. Theres no mistaking that this is a record best heard with headphones on and eyes closed, or alone at night. And those voices must signify absence and yearning, perfectly signified by the bed sheets on the album cover: once used and held for comfort, perhaps shared, but presently abandoned.